Cosatu statement on brutal murder of Satawu Shopsteward 29-04-08

 

COSATU STATEMENT ON THE BRUTAL MURDER OF SATAWU SHOPSTEWARD.

29 April 2008

COSATU in Mpumalanga condemns in the strongest possible terms the brutal and racist murder of Mr Jimmy Tapale a SATAWU shop steward by white racist males.

Mr Tapane was attacked during working hours at his post at the Middelburg Country Club by three white males who used the golf sticks to separate his soul from his body despite the fact that he was unarmed and defenceless .

What is more disturbing about this attack is that it happens just immediately after a range of incidents of racial attacks reported by the workers at the workplace. i.e:

· The brutal killing of Mr Mandlazi by white racist employer Piet Maratze in 2002 dragging him at the back of a bakkie until he died.

· The brutal killing of three dry cleaning workers in Vereeniging, allegedly by their employer.

· The latest incident of the shocking racist video made by the white students of the university of Free State which displayed the abuse and exploitation of elderly black women workers.

· A white supervisor at the Bethal Spar in Mpumalanga who called a female employee a Kaffir .

All the above incidents attest to the COSATU's long standing assertion that racism is not just an isolated occurrence perpetrated by few disgruntled relics from the apartheid era, but that racism is still rife in the workplaces and communities.

We call for the immediate re-arrest of the culprits and that they be charged with murder

We further call upon the Provincial Department of Safety and Security to investigate the incident that led to the murder and brutal killing of Mr Jimmy Tapane.

COSATU is going to mobilise all members and communities in Mpumalanga and in Middelburg in particular to challenge through demonstrations this brutal murder until justice prevails.

For more information please contact COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary, Norman Mokoena, at 0828036712.