EFF Youth Command NMU George Campus

ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS YOUTH COMMAND (EFFYC) – GEORGE WARD 22
WORKERS’ DAY STATEMENT – 1 MAY

Workers’ Day is not a ceremonial holiday. It is a revolutionary reminder carved out of the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of the working class in its historic struggle against capitalist exploitation.

It is a day of resistance — not public relations.

Yet today, while workers across the country commemorate this historic struggle, **Nelson Mandela University management** will issue statements celebrating Workers’ Day, speaking of dignity, equality, and appreciation.

These words ring hollow.

Behind them lies the lived reality of workers at NMU — a reality defined by exploitation, insecurity, and betrayal. Security guards who have dedicated decades of service under the institution are now being forced into outsourcing arrangements designed to strip them of job security, benefits, and dignity. At the same time, some of these workers have not even been paid for March, pushing families into crisis.

This is not reform. This is class warfare.

Outsourcing and labour broking are weapons of a capitalist system that thrives on the super-exploitation of the working class. They are tools used to casualise labour, weaken worker organisation, and turn permanent employees into disposable commodities in the pursuit of profit.

What is happening at NMU is not an exception — it is a reflection of a broader neoliberal assault on workers. But it is here, at this institution, that the contradiction is most visible: an institution that depends on workers for its daily functioning while simultaneously undermining their existence.

There is no safety without security.
There is no university without workers.

The EFF Youth Command in George Ward 22 rejects this anti-worker agenda without hesitation. We refuse to accept a system where those who sustain institutions are treated as expendable.

On this revolutionary Workers’ Day, we issue the following demands to NMU management:

* Immediate payment of all outstanding wages to affected security workers
* The immediate reinstatement of all affected security guards who have served the institution for years
* The insourcing of these workers back into NMU with full benefits and recognition of their years of service
* The total abolition of outsourcing and labour broking at NMU
* Full protection of workers’ rights, job security, and dignity
* Transparent and meaningful engagement with workers and their democratic representatives

We make it clear: these workers are not outsiders — they are part of NMU. They have built, protected, and sustained this institution for years and must be treated as such.

We warn NMU management: the working class is not passive. Workers will not remain silent while being subjected to exploitation and humiliation.

You cannot celebrate Workers’ Day with one hand while attacking workers with the other.

There can be no genuine celebration of Workers’ Day while security workers are hungry, unpaid, and threatened with outsourcing.

The time for empty rhetoric is over. The time for justice is now. The struggle for economic freedom in our lifetime continues.

Amandla!
Awethu!

An injury to one is an injury to all.
❤️🖤💚