SolidarityNews24 reports that trade union Solidarity has urged US President Donald Trump to intensify pressure on SA to repeal "race-based" laws.

In a 12-minute video posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Solidarity CEO Dirk Hermann lambasted the ANC government and "race-based" laws such as affirmative action and broad-based black economic empowerment. Referring to Trump's executive order that cut off aid to SA, Hermann said: "They (ANC) packaged their race laws in beautiful words like equality, equity and inclusivity. But here comes President Trump, and with one order he ripped off the cotton wool. He said, 'race laws are bad'. He's right – racial laws are bad. He has exposed and disrupted the ANC, but now it is our responsibility to build and fight further. And Solidarity is going to do that. And we are going to do it on an even larger scale than before." Hermann said Solidarity's board had decided to launch a comprehensive campaign against the laws, which would include requesting Trump to continue pressuring SA until they were repealed. Solidarity welcomed President Trump's focus on this issue and demanded that the SA government should, before the G20 summit, indicate how and when racial laws would be ended. The trade union said it would also contact G20 countries about the laws. The G20 summit will be held in SA later this year. "After 30 years of economic stagnation, South African workers deserve substantial, sustainable growth. Racial laws directly hinder this, making our country and each one of us poorer," Hermann argued.


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