The Ha Thetsane Industrial Park was a scene of pandemonium on Friday morning as rioting textile workers clashed with police.
Workers’ representatives are to deliver a petition to the office of the prime minister later in the day.
Apart from demanding the immediate dismissal of labour and employment minister Keketso Rants’o, the workers are demanding the extension of a government wage subsidy for three months.
Government introduced a relief plan in April, under which textile workers are to receive a monthly wage subsidy of M800 for three months. This was part of a wide ranging initiative to mitigate the loss of income due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
Apparently angry at being barred from turning up in numbers to witness the handing over of the memorandum of grievances, the workers ran amok this morning, chanting profanities and hurling stones at private properties.
This prompted police to step in and disperse the rampaging workers with warning shots, among others.
