Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen argued on Friday that his party is the “true party that loves workers”, saying the DA is trying to create as many new South African workers as possible.

Steenhuisen was responding to the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu’s) claims that the DA is a “privileged organisation” that only protects the rights of the few.

On Thursday, Cosatu condemned what it called the DA’s “ill-informed attacks” on the rights of workers in the strongest possible terms.

The DA caused a stir after it proposed the abolishment of a minimum wage in its plan to create more jobs.

Cosatu said the DA’s pledge to scrap all the progressive gains workers had achieved since 1994 was a brutal reminder that workers could not trust the DA with their lives and rights.

Steenhuisen explained that instead of trying to “manipulate South Africans” into believing that the DA was an elitist organisation, Cosatu “would do well to acknowledge the privilege that exists in their own backyard”.

“President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President Paul Mashatile are quintessential examples of the exclusive economy created by the Unholy Alliance. Both reside in mansions in Bantry Bay and Constantia, respectively, far removed from the plight of the unemployment crisis that they and Cosatu have created. The greatest irony is that both have chosen to live in DA-run municipalities,” he said.

He highlighted that contrary to Cosatu’s claim that the DA was trying to abolish the minimum wage, the party understood the need to protect existing workers’ wages.

“…however, we believe that a targeted exemption from the minimum wage through our Youth Employment Opportunity Certificate is the best way to protect existing wages while unlocking the door to South Africa’s economy and jobs for the about 11.7-million of our citizens who remain unemployed,” he said

Steenhuisen explained that the 11.7-million unemployed South Africans currently confined to a minimum wage of R0, of which he said would relish the opportunity to get their foot into the door, earn a wage, and be enabled to build a livelihood for themselves and their families.

Instead, they were forced to rely on the State for a grant or, worse, sit at home, wondering where their next meal would come from, he added.

Steenhuisen noted that Cosatu remained “tone-deaf” to South Africa’s unemployment crisis, adding that they had chosen to “double down on their job-killing policies” of race quotas, trickle-down redress, and forcing employers to prize only high-skilled workers rather than create opportunities for all.

“The harsh truth is that South Africa is a developing economy whose growth under the Unholy Alliance has flatlined, with a largely unskilled workforce that cannot be absorbed,” he said.

He highlighted that the DA loved workers, saying this was demonstrated by the DA-led Western Cape, which had South Africa’s lowest unemployment rate for over a decade and which created nearly 79% of all net new jobs in the country over the last five years.

The DA said it would not “cower to the Unholy Alliance” [Cosatu, African National Congress and South African Communist Party]. The party vowed to continue championing the rights of both the unemployed and workers instead of protecting the minority of cadres who had profited off the backs of the impoverished.