AFRICA TOP 10
South African Workers Strike as Inflation Hits its Highest Rate Since 2009
Thousands of workers took to the streets in all nine provinces to demand, among other things, a basic income grant, a better minimum wage, and a cap on fuel prices and interest rates. They also want the ongoing problems at the state-owned supplier of electricity, Eskom, to be resolved so that businesses stop losing work due to power cuts. Azar Jammine, chief economist at consultancy firm Econometrix, said the July inflation rate of 7.8 percent was expected. The $88 basic income grant demanded by of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) is unrealistic, Jammine added. Economist Lebohang Pheko, a senior research fellow at the Trade Collective research group, disagreed. "My question is, can we afford not to?" Pheko said. "I think the notion of a basic income which is able to deal with things like hunger at household level and at childhood level which has other impacts like stunting, cognitive functioning at a very crucial developmental age is quite important." Ironically, COSATU, which initially called for the protests, is an alliance partner with the ruling African National Congress party, which has been in power since 1994.
SOURCE: VOA
Previous Senegalese-born Tiktoker Gets Italian Citizenship
Next Observers Laud Angola's Peaceful Poll
Mo Ibrahim's Index Looks at Africa's State of Governance
France to Give Burkina Faso What It Wants
Africa Has to Work on Feeding Itself
Mali Basketballer Disappointed with Treatment after Whistleblowing
Kenya Changes the Rules of Engagement
For Many, the Pope's Visit is the Peace they Need
Algeria Unveils Series of Policies Aimed at Eliminating its Dependence on Fossil Fuels
Lagos Seaport Garners Support from the Masses
Sierra Leone Women Given Right to Own Land
History About East Africa's Art Scene
Uganda Launches its First Oil Drilling Programme
Looking at a Decade of Uber's Operations in Africa