SOWETO, 25 February, 2021 (TON): In solidarity with the front line workers, the health care workers and trade unionists at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, gathered before the South African Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, delivers a yearly budget speech.

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) and the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) urged their members to stay away from work to protest what they say is a high level of unemployment, persistent corruption in the government, and an abysmal distribution of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for frontline workers.

Motebang Ralake, SAFTU provincial leader said, "They have a big stomach like this. Most of them, are dying of over-eating. We have the people in this country who are dying of overeating while the majority of our people are dying of hunger."

The government will unveil its fiscal 2021 spending plans on Wednesday as the continent's most industrialized economy grapples with the fallout from the pandemic on top of a recession.