South Africa Trade Unions protest in Pretoria over rising cost of living

Congress of South African Trade Unions,COSATU, a long-time ally of the ruling African National Congress, led hundreds of South Africans in protest in Pretoria and Cape Town against growing inflation that has soared to a 13-year high.

Labour unrest often affects sectors such as mining during wage negotiations, but it is rare for COSATU, South Africa’s biggest union, to lead a national protest.

Union officials said more protesters were expected to join the marches as the day progressed, though it was not immediately clear if a call for a national shutdown to take place in more than 10 major cities would be successful.

Protesters holding placards saying “Stop Taxing Basic Food Items” marched through central Pretoria towards Union Buildings, which houses President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office. In Cape Town, they marched towards parliament.

The protests, according to trade union, is the only way to make the government act against the unaffordable cost of living is to bring the economy to a halt.

South Africa’s headline consumer inflation rose to an annual 7.8% in July, its highest level since 2009.

In order to stem the rising prices of commodities, the central bank delivered its biggest interest rate hike in two decades to try to curb inflation, despite four previous hikes.

Fuel prices were up 45.3% in June, their largest annual increase since the agency’s consumer price index series began in 2009.