The nationwide strike by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) against corruption and state capture is a rolling action to defeat the corrupt elite and save the African National Congress-led movement, South African Communist Party (SACP) deputy secretary Solly Mapaila said on Tuesday.

He said President Jacob Zuma was the "elite predator” as rampant corruption and unemployment rises in the country.

”He is the elite predator, the elite are those close to him…that is the Guptas and others inside our movement. Post this march, things will not be the same in this country. We are participating in all marches across the country as the SACP and supporting this Cosatu action. This signifies rolling action until we defeat the elite…the march is an important moment where organised labour is coming out clearly to express its disdain and disgust against those who are stealing from our state and national resources…for themselves and their families at the expense of the majority,” Mapaila said at a joint briefing with Cosatu in Johannesburg.

All SACP members in government, including ministers, have been instructed to down tools and join workers at the picket lines.

”We are writing to our deployees in government, that is ministers and others… that tomorrow we are deploying them to the marches…we do not want a minister to be in cabinet tomorrow, we gave that instruction from the SACP head office. To all our members, even MECs, tomorrow we are saving our revolution, we are participating and joining South Africans to defend our national sovereignty, our state that is now being stolen.”

Both Cosatu and the SACP, who are part of the tri-partite alliance with the governing ANC, have repeatedly called on Zuma to step down in the face of damning allegations of corruption and looting of state resources by the controversial Gupta family and their associates. The family enjoys close ties to Zuma and are business partners with his son Duduzane.

Cosatu secretary general Bheki Ntshalintshali said the legal strike allows all workers irrespective of their union affiliation to down tools on Wednesday.

”This strike is about sending a message to both government and private sector that as workers and citizens, we are tired of corruption. We are standing up tomorrow against the cancer of corruption that is eroding our gains and also undermining our democracy.”

Workers will gather at 10 am at various meeting points across the nine provinces and participate in the 13 marches to premiers’ offices, Parliament in Cape Town, and other government institutions to hand over a memorandum of demands.