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Cosatu plans poll protest on Zimbabwe border
Sally Archibald, SAPA
March 01, 2005

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1109679307914B254&set_id=

Workers will picket overnight at Zimbabwe border posts the day before elections take place in that country, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday.

The protests on March 30 would be the culmination of other blockades and demonstrations throughout March at the Beit Bridge border post and at the Zimbabwe High Commission in Pretoria.

Cosatu secretary-general Zwelenzima Vavi said the protests signified how little faith workers in Zimbabwe and South Africa had in the elections set to take place on March 31.

"Clearly we can see what will happen beyond March 31; the winner will be the one with the odds skewed in his favour," Vavi said at a press conference in Johannesburg.

He said Cosatu expected to continue fighting for worker's rights after the elections, and were "bracing ourselves for further actions".

Cosatu would not call for economic sanctions against the country unless requested to by the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions, Vavi said.

"We are not leading the struggle, we are supporting the Zimbabwean workers. The main struggle must happen in Zimbabwe," he said.

Protests at the Zimbabwe High Commission would take place on March 9 and March 16, with a mass march to the commission on March 23, Vavi said.

The border blockades would occur on March 11, and 18, with another mass march and night vigil on March 30.

He said the regional branches were in the process of submitting applications to the police and local authorities for permission to demonstrate.

Vavi said this sort of border mass action was neither abnormal nor illegal. He would be "very worried" if permissions were not granted, he said.

"We would have to ask what is special with Zimbabwe?"

Asked what Cosatu hoped to achieve with its actions this month, Vavi said: "A struggle is not an event. It is a process that may, in time, produce a result.

"We were asked the same question when we were struggling against apartheid, but we persisted."

The trade union federation also revealed the programme for its 20th anniversary conference which will take place from March 5 to 7 in Midrand.

Speakers include Deputy President Jacob Zuma, labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana, and critics of Cosatu from left and right of the political spectrum, Vavi said.

"We are not just inviting good friends who agree with us." He said the conference aimed to spark critical thinking about the performance of Cosatu over the last 10 years, and its future direction. - Sapa

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