South African workers strike over unemployment levels

Hundreds of thousands of South Africans are taking part in a nationwide strike today.

The Cosatu trade union called the strike over “unacceptably high” unemployment. Official figures claim one on four South Africans are out of work, but other estimates have put the number as high as 40%.

Man of the workers on strike work in the country’s gold mines but the action has caused disruptions across industry, with Volkswagen reporting it was only running a partial production line.

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Cosatu said the union had been forced to call a strike because the government was not responding to their concerns.

Cosatu spokesman, Patrick Craven, called for “a completely different mindset from business – saving jobs instead of cutting them for short-term commercial gain”.