Hundreds of Cosatu members painted the city centre red on Thursday during the march about crime and petrol hikes.
About 300 people walked from Hanover Street to the Civic Centre, Legislature and Parliament.
Singer Vicky Sampson, who is the president of Trade Union for Musicians of South Africa, joined the march.
Cosatu’s provincial Secretary Malvern De Bruyn said they expected about 3000 marchers on Thursday.
“Everybody can see what is happening in the Western Cape on a daily basis, people are being killed and mugged,” he said.
“Nobody is safe in the province anymore, so we thought we should come out and tell them that they must do more because we have under-resourced police stations.
“They don’t deal with crime effectively. We expect the authorities to come with a plan that will work, and they must engage communities and work with them.”
When the Cosatu members arrived at the Civic Centre, they got angry when they were told that Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis would not be able to see them.
Instead, Chief of Staff James Styan came out to meet the group and said he would sign the memorandum of grievances.
“We want the mayor and not you!” the crowd shouted.
Styan said Hill-Lewis was engaged in a safety and security event.
“He takes crime issues very seriously but he couldn’t be at the march.”
The marchers then went to the Legislature where Community Safety and Police oversight MEC Reagen Allen addressed them.
“We need to work together and some of the points in the memorandum are the same stuff that I have been saying for the past 100 days, since my appointment,” he said.
“The shouting is unnecessary because we have seen how politics gets in the way of people.
“The Premier remains committed to consulting Cosatu, if I had the time, I would have marched to the parliament with you.
Police minister Bheki Cele and a representative from the secretary of parliament received the document and signed it.
Some of the issues raised in the memorandum are:
- An end to gang violence in communities.
- Responsive government that listens to all its people.
- Government to end corruption.
- All police stations and station commanders to be evaluated by communities.
- Regular police patrols in industrial areas. Public safety at railway stations.
- A comprehensive review of the fuel price regime to reduce costs because currently half of the fuel price goes to taxes.
- Scrapping of the general fuel levy.
Cosatu has requested a written response within 21 days.