♪ >> a quick check on the headlines here on al jazeera. thank you crane says richa has launchedded a missile attack on an eastern railway station killing 22 people. it's six months since the invasion began. is the u.n. security council held an open session to discuss the situation. the u.s. secretary general reminded members of human cost of the war.

>> today marks the sad and tragic milestone. six months since russia's february 24th invasion of ukraine. in this devastating period, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, including hundreds of children. >> u.s. president joe biden has announced a further $3 billion in aid for ukraine. it's the biggest military package for ukraine. it includes radar and counter drone kickoffs. a u.s. police chief has been fired over a bungled sponges to a shooting in may. at robb elementary school in uvalde. he did not attend for his own safety but many relatives were

there. >> 21 levers lost and mr. pete arredondo is asking for justice. we ask for justice for our grandkids, our kids. >> yes -- renewed fighting between e.p.a. yepian troops in teague ray has shut down. u.s. president joe biden has unveiled a debt relief plan for millions of mothers-in-law trying to pay off student loans. it will cancel up to $10,000 in federal student debt for people who earn less than $125 each year. more than 45 million people in the united states carry federal student dealt. so, those are the headlines. the news continues here on al jazeera after inside story. stay tuned, that's all. bye, now. ♪

>> south africa's powerful trade federations have called for a federal shutdown. the government is accused of failing to tackle unemployment. but will it make a difference in how it will impact the already struggling economy? this is requested inside story." ♪ "inside story." >> hello and welcome to the program. thousands of south africans have joined a protest march organized by trade unions that are frustrated by rising unemployment, increasing food and fuel costs and daily power

outages. alleys have taken place in all provinces with the largest in cametown and the capital, pretoria. two trailed federations have called for a total shutdown, a cap on fuel. and a basic minimum wage. we'll bring in our guests in a moment but first, we have more from pretoria. >> a few thousand workers have come out to pretoria, the capital city of south africa, to protest against the high cost of living. there are a number of different unions but the theme is how fencive it is to live in south africa, especially after the covid-19 pandemic where thousands of jocks were lost and people were without an income. while the government has put in place a very basic benefit of about $20 a month for those who don't have jocks, it isn't enough, especially for the working class who say they can't

afford the escalating cost of electricity, food, as well as transportation and also, again, the high cost of that. now, they say they want immediate attention from the government who they say hasn't done enough to address some of these major concerns, especially amongst the cork -- working class and the poor. inflation has gone up by 7.8%, the highest in 13 years and so for many south africans, it is a struggle to survive day today. >> let's have a closer look at the situation in south africa. the economy has been stagnant since the 2008 financial crisis. and it's deteriorated further due to the fallout from the covid-19 pandemic and the war in ukraine. inflation hit a 13-year high in june, mainly driven by rising food and fuel costs.

last year unemployment hit a record 35%. the figure is even higher if it includes the number of jobless people who have stopped looking for work. women are among the most vulnerable. nearly one in every two women doesn't have aning in -- income. let's bring in our guests. ann durbin and gentle secretary of the congress of south african trade jones and in paratorah, a commonnist and visiting professor at the business school and going back to durbin is the national spokesman of the african national congress. welcome to you all. thank you very much for being on inside story. let's start with you, becky, as you called for the strike action. has it been a success and is this going to be the first of many? >> thank you very much. it has been a very successful -- look at the numbers, look to the

impact of the strikes. this strike, this is a protest actually in the main. it's intended to raise the issues and to get the society debating and discussing the problem that they're facing and hopefully the got will then respond to the crisis. so we raise the crisis, 10 million unemployed people. 10 million on [indiscernible] the electricity problems, the unemployed. gender-based problems is going -- growing beyond proportions so we hope that with this action, joined by other people in the society raising the same alarms, we think the message has been driven home so we can say it's successful. >> dakota, has the message been

driven home? have you, the a.m.c., gotten the message? >> indeed, we've gotten the message as the amp can national congress and issues which were raised by the workers. are well appreciated. you know that in our country, workers have a right to strike and a right to protest or demonstrate and that exercise is enshrined from the constitution of the republic, chapter two of our constitution. they are raising issues that are of serious concern for us as the governing party, in particular, issues related to the cost of living, in particular the issues related to -- in particular, issues related to security.

gender-based problems and general safety in our country. are issues that we all share. and i think it's incumbent upon us as the governing body to take them up with the authorities. so far, with the latest statistics in south africa, we're showing a small decline of 3% from 39% of unemployment rate to now estimated at 36% but it's still not positive given the numbers for unemployment. as a result of covid-19 and a sluggish economy. i think it's incumbent upon us as the governing party, as the private sector to find the best way for all of us as a nation to win because we are not in a good

position. >> no, i think most people would agree with that. yanni, we'll bring you in now. what economic impact does a strike like this have and the union say more are planned. what effect will that have if they have more strikes like these? >> well, a strike of any sort in any economy -- the cost of moment of labor, makes it more expensive to employ people. so as a result of an action like this, employers will try to find ways to replace workers with capital. this is especially true in the midst of a post industrial revolution. we know that technical can replace workers. in that area, it's not helping the plight of the unemployed.

i do believe south africa is in serious crisis. we need to find work for our people. we need an uninterrupted power splay. -- supply. and we need service delivery from our municipalities. but this government that is no will to serving the people, as we've seen after a decade of corruption. this is the fries that ordinary south aftercase are -- africans are paid for the mess the government has made in south africa. >> dakota, what's your response to that? is this your mess? >> with all the challenges that we have, i think it's disingenuous to say that the i.n.c. messed up. you would understand, when we

took over, we took over -- that -- would buckle the social -- bring in consolation and capital to reinvest in -- which has not been the occasion. with what happened we are september to recover and recroup all must bees. was lost through corruption but we still expect the private sector to do their part, which has not been happening. particularly in terms of reinvesting in the economy. in this economy there are over 6 million -- stern by the fifth sector. basic investment. but we -- the government part in it and i don't think that is in the best interests of anybody. it would important that all of us put our heads together to

ensure that we get our his back to welcome it's supposed to be involving the future and enriching the country for the benefit of our children and those who come after us. >> moving on from who is responsible to how to go about fixing some of these problems. we're heard low wages, unemployment. inflation, the high cost of petrol and fuel. lay out what it is you want the government to do now. gentlemen consideration we want businesses to stop investment

strikes. sources invest back into the company. we want business to do that. for government, we want them to amend the -- which allows workers to invest on social development, on issues like infrastructure etc., etc. but we want government to fix -- because it's true that without supply, we're not going to get any foreign investors coming. but it's also in the interests of the local business people to invest in it because it is difficult for escom because of the coal-fired stations to be able to invest because people have said we can't invest in coal power for our station. so it must be business.

local and domestic business that muck invested. government has to deal with corruption. we agree that some of the issues are issues of the past regime. but corruption is not the question of -- the stake -- that was built by the apartheid state, is arising from how the government has been raising some of these issues. so we want them to fix transport so we can transport from the production line and be able to ex port. so there are issue that is government can do immediately. it may not give all the results to 10 million people but it has

to be done and done immediately. the issues -- this is the fourth. and technology has been all the time coming new dealing with those issues. we know technology is not going to be a consumer. you can consume some things through technology but somebody, some way, a human being, should be able to buy that and for that human being to be able to buy that product, that human being nub employed. so far it is not going to save our economy. if we're going to be -- just using the while [indiscernible] we know that when things are getting better, they are able to consume the goods produced. so it's not just one way that you increase the wages and people are taking money and

putting it back. people are putting the money back into the economy. there are advanced captain lists, cups that are using this technology and their unemployment rate is very, very low. it's not over 40% or 35% using the information. >> just on this, in your opinion how has the economy been mismanaged? is this primarily the government's fault or because of external factors enthusiastic outside of his co-le? >> it's the fault of the government. that government is corrupt, corrupt to its core. without a very good administration. i had -- eight years ago that the a.n.c. government should get rid of the national airline. now eight years later. 30 billion later by wasting half of the airline so the government

does not take good advice. i have another advice for the government. publish every iscom contract for public scrutiny and we will know exactly what's going on and exactly how to fix it. will this government relax the role to exchange it own activities? the corruption is entrenched in that government and there the people are suffering a lack of service delivery and indictmently, investment in this country will not -- if i cannot guarantee electricity supply. so accomplish ascon for public scrutiny. there's no reason why it should be a secret. and also, why not publish all

contracts for public scrutiny? after all, it is our tax money. only once we have full transparency will we will able too fix this dunn. >> dakota is, that something ths paper preparedded to do, pub militia those contracts? >> the issue of publishing contracts. we are wanted to have public information access which allows every city to petition through the court nip information on any state dealings. and that's what the law allowed in this country. i don't understand why he would not want to follow that part of -- which gives us access to information we required.

we're -- they can also go to court to get that access, which is not supposed to be difficult. which is why today with unof the acts and all others which allows correspondence in government. and look, i don't see any difficulties. government must be -- must make everything accessible and every information transparent because after all, it is the taxpayer's money that is sustaining the state. -- better relationship with their government. that is not supposed to be difficult. corruption. is more in an a.n.c. position. i brought that up. we don't stand for corruption. -- crumbs, where he stands to

ensure we'll give a better life to some of our people. so far we are succeeding to deal with the african congress, including -- some already in court. others are just waiting to an charged so there is a general -- that is opening and it's happening for the good. it's neither here or there but there's something, an election has been attempt there's no schett that we're hiding our report from our people. you can find them. they're all this. -- there. people i've namedded with recommendations. there's a lot through that ride and throughout people. and i don't think it's good for us and it can't be good for

ourselves. i think we need to do more and that's while we need a commitment from the private sector. to be honest, we're not in charge of the -- the -- of can economy are still in what we used to call the colonial structure of the court. i'm in charge of bills and bills of -- in our country and that makes me an example for you. that there's an never. we are asking -- from the private sector. we don't have to right this government. you can wright it at the private sector but help us to recover from the economy. and from the current sluggish -- it's not only the indifferent of

your country. >> focusing on the power crisis in south africa at the moment. rolling blackout, sometimes for up to six hours a day in place has been described as a winter of discontent. obviously having a severe affect am the economy and would could even last for another two or three years. just how bad is it and how devastating has it been to the economy and to the workers that obviously it supports? >> thank you very much for the question. first let us want to make the point that corruption in south africa is not only the politicians but also the priority secretaries. they are deeply involved in corruption. so let's sea that it takes two to 10 free-throw line sectors. in regard to your question, i

think it's devastating. the question of this -- load sharing, timing, either, etc. then we understand because we have meant with -- and understand the problems and nebs you can stop load sharing now for maybe 12 months or so but ja what you'll have afterwards will be total shutdown because if you are not giving space for maintenance on some of this unique equipment. they're causing a very terrible and slow process because of the energy, the question of the i.p.p. and the one that the private sector plans to accomplish. it's not going to happen in the next six months or go

it's going to take maybe 1 minutes to 26 minutes. it's something we have to live with unless government, as they promised, they recall going to be look through their pro curement processes. it takes a very, very long time. by the time you receive the parts that you wanted, many other parts will be affected in deal with those issues. so each government can come up and everybody on board can dial with this issue. i think we can mitigate some of these processes while trying to find a lasting solution but it's devastating. >> ok, yarny, i want to finish with you briefly here. urn employment at record highs. why not south africa's economy

match the demands or availability of that. you have a highly educated one. what is the main issue from >> south africa's unemployment situation psoriasis, a national crisis and unfortunately people suffer as a result of this. i think i happened employment problems for as long as the population has. our population goes at about 1.5% per annum. the economy has been in low growth as a result of corruption. in. a.n.c. government, with boplation growth higher than economic growth. he will grow, not become slower. the mini whip not grow unless we have as much as from ascom.

>> obviously a range of issue that is chairman are going to take some time to solve. just want to thank all three offices our guests. yanni and dakota, thank you so much for coming on the program. thank you also for watching. you can see the program nimby watching. and for further discussion, go to our facebook page. you can also join the conversation on twitter. our handle is @aj inside story. for me, tom mccray and the whole team here, bye for now. óñóñóñóñ■ prograis provid by:

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