COSATU plans demonstrations against austerity measures ahead of Budget Speech

CAPE TOWN - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will embark on various demonstrations against austerity measures on Wednesday.

This comes ahead of the tabling of the Budget Speech by Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday afternoon.

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The demonstrations are set to get underway in the Cape Town CBD in the morning, and Polokwane and Durban in the afternoon.

COSATU's parliamentary coordinator, Matthew Parks, said that budget cuts over the past few years had resulted in a number of consequences.

"We’ve seen longer queues at Home Affairs, we’ve seen less police officers on our streets, we’ve fewer teachers educating our learners, we’ve seen less nurses in our hospitals taking care of patients, and the consequence has been that all public services are really struggling to provide the services to society."