Millions protest in South Africa over rising electricity, food prices

On Wednesday, South African economy was crippled by one of the biggest protests in recent times. Tens of thousands of people refused to show up at work in a protest against spiraling food prices and rising cost of electricity. The protests hit hard the mining and manufacturing sectors which together drive the bulk of South African economy. The protests were organized by the Congress of South African Trade Unions as millions of workers struck work and marched across cities like Cape Town and Pretoria. The strike brought the shoe, car and textile factories to as standstill and according to some reports work in the country’s gold mines were badly affected. Analysts warn that such strikes would further hurt an ailing economy which grew at just 3% this year as compared to 5% in the past four years. The police claimed that by and... [read full story]