Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 27 November 2025 #Cosatu40 #Cosatu40thAnniversary
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #COSATU scheduled to hold #CosatuGolfDay at Johannesburg Country Club, Woodmead on December 4 #Cosatu40 #VioletSeboniBrigade #Cosatu40thAnniversary #Cosatu scheduled to hold its 40th Anniversary at Dobsonville, Soweto on December 6 #Cosatu@40 #Cosatu40thAnniversary #SACTU70 #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Maoo
Our side of the story
27 November 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
Organize at every workplace and demand respect for labour rights Now!
Defend Jobs Now!
Join COSATU NOW!
Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU will present its submission on the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill (Medium-Term Budget Policy State Statement) to Parliament Friday, 28 November 2025
- Media Alert: SACTWU Gauteng to Convene its Provincial Shop Stewards Council
- COSATU scheduled to hold a post Central Executive Committee (CEC) media briefing on Thursday, 27 November 2025
- Swinging for Dignity: COSATU and President Ramaphosa Tee Off for a Cause
- Applications for media accreditation to cover COSATU 40th Anniversary rally officially opened
- South Africa
- COSATU praises its affiliate NEHAWU for the official permanent employment of Community Healthcare Workers
- SACP Free State Provincial Executive Committee Statement
- Press alert: Media invitation to SACP Annual Augmented Central Committee post-meeting press briefing
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- WFTU Statement for the 29th of November International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
- “80 years of international trade union struggle – Stop violence, exploitation and war. Safety, dignity and equality for all women”
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU will present its submission on the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill (Medium-Term Budget Policy State Statement) to Parliament Friday, 28 November 2025
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 27 November 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will present its submission on the Division of Revenue Amendment Bill (Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement) to Parliament’s Standing Committee: Appropriations from 13: 00 Friday, 28 November 2025 (virtual platform).
Issued by COSATU
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Media Alert: SACTWU Gauteng to convene its Provincial Shop Stewards Council
Oupa Hadebe, SACTWU Gauteng Provincial Secretary, 26 November 2025
Kindly receive an invitation for the media to cover the SACTWU Provincial Shop Stewards Council, to be held at the SACTWU Gauteng Provincial Offices (111 Commissioner Street, Solly Sachs House, 1st Floor) on 28 November 2025 at 11:00.
The Provincial Shop Stewards Council is convened in terms of the Constitution to engage with workers about key issues affecting the industries to which we organise.
This session will place a strong focus on the widespread non-compliance in factories, including the use of undocumented and illegal labour to perpetuate exploitation and undermine bargaining council agreements.
The meeting will further outline actions and interventions that workers and the union will undertake, while calling for strengthened enforcement from the Department of Labour inspectors, SARS, and other relevant stakeholders.
In addition, the Council will highlight the start of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, reaffirming SACTWU’s commitment to fighting gender-based violence both inside and outside the workplace.
Workers will also be mobilised to participate in the upcoming COSATU 40th Anniversary celebrations, scheduled to take place at Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto, on 6 December 2025, with gates opening at 07:30.
The Provincial Shop Stewards Council will be addressed by SACTWU’s President, SACP, COSATU and SANCO
Issued by SACTWU Gauteng
For media inquiries, contact: Zanele Kumalo
SACTWU Gauteng Administrator
Mobile: 0789007443
Email: zan...@sactwu.org.za
P.p Z. Kumalo
Oupa Hadebe
Provincial Secretary
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Swinging for Dignity: COSATU and President Ramaphosa Tee Off for a Cause
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 24 November 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is thrilled to announce its second annual Charity Golf Challenge, an inspiring event where labour, business and government unite on the green for a great cause. Members of the media are warmly invited to attend and cover this unique blend of sport, leadership and social impact.
This flagship initiative is more than a Corporate Social Investment project — it is a powerful demonstration of COSATU’s unwavering commitment to social justice and restoring dignity in communities beyond the workplace.
In a true celebration of Ubuntu, President Cyril Ramaphosa will join COSATU leaders, government departments and business partners on the golf course to help raise funds for its activities, school shoes and sanitary packs for underprivileged learners. Every swing will contribute to changing a child’s school experience and supporting their confidence and wellbeing.
Join us for a remarkable day of purpose-driven play:
COSATU Charity Golf Challenge
- Date: Thursday, 04 December 2025
- Presidential Tee off: 10:40
- Participants Tee off: 11:00 (Shotgun Start)
- Venue: Country Club Johannesburg (CCJ Woodmead)
The challenge will be followed by an elegant Gala Dinner at 18.30, where the day’s achievements will be celebrated and partners honoured.
Members of the media wishing to attend are invited to send their details to non...@cosatu.org.za
Issued by COSATU
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Applications for media accreditation to cover COSATU 40th Anniversary rally officially opened
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson,10 November 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) invites all members of the media to apply for accreditation to attend and cover the Federation’s historic 40th Anniversary rally. This momentous event is scheduled to take place on 6 December at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto.
COSATU was launched on 1 December 1985, at the height of the struggle against apartheid. Its formation brought together 33 competing unions and federations that were opposed to apartheid but committed to a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa.
Alliance partners, local and international guests have been invited to celebrate 40 years of this vibrant movement advancing, defending and protecting the interests and rights of workers and the working class in South Africa and beyond.
Applications for accreditation may be submitted to mam...@cosatu.org.za or non...@cosatu.org.za with the following details:
Name:
Surname:
ID number:
Media House/Address:
Contact number/email:
Alternatively, an application form can be completed via this link:
COSATU 40th Anniversary Media Accreditation Application Form – Fill out form
Issued by COSATU
Zanele Sabela (National Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639
Email: zan...@cosatu.org.za
COSATU praises its affiliate NEHAWU for the official permanent employment of Community Healthcare Workers
Nonzuzo Dlamini, COSATU Communication Officer, 27 November 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) congratulates its militant affiliate, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) for the historic victory to permanently appoint Community Healthcare Workers (CHWs) into the public service following the signing of an agreement between the Department of Health and NEHAWU.
The signed settlement will see the appointment of thousands of eligible CHWs as of 1 September 2025, implementing the agreement in different phases.
After numerous vigorous engagements with the department, NEHAWU took the long battle to recognise CHWs as permanent employees to the Labour Court, justified in the quest to relieve them from the exploitative continuous extension of fixed term contracts with salaries that have no pensions or benefits and place these vulnerable workers under unbearable strain of not knowing if their contracts may come to an end.
When the matter was heard in January this year, the court saw no concrete reasons to keep these workers in reoccurring fixed term contracts, compelling the state to adhere to the judgement and rectify a relationship that benefited the department more than it did the workers who toiled selflessly with minimal returns.
This was an important victory upholding the Labour Relations Act’s three-month limitation on casual and short-term work.
CHWs have for years played a critical role in ensuring that the citizens of this country are provided with health services. Since their introduction in 2010, they have contributed hugely to improving access to healthcare and encouraging healthy behaviour in vulnerable communities, through community and family engagements, leading to less disease and better population health outcomes.
The CHW model has been highly beneficial especially to communities who reside far from clinics and hospitals.
This development will also play a crucial role in further capacitating the healthcare system in the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and in the provision of equitable access for all. CHWs and primary healthcare are the foundation for universal healthcare through the NHI.
COSATU applauds its Affiliate for the relentless commitment to the advancement of these workers and achieving this historic victory for all workers, unwavering in carrying an injury of Community Healthcare Workers till the very end.
Issued by COSATU
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SACP Free State Provincial Executive Committee Statement
Bheke Charles Stofile, SACP Free State Provincial Secretary, 26 November 2025
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Free State Province (FS) convened a Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) meeting virtually on 23 November 2025. The PEC took place in the run-up to the Augmented Central Committee (ACC) meeting, and as a result, served also as a preparatory meeting towards the ACC. The PEC received an input from the Central Committee deployees and a detailed political report by the Provincial Secretary, as well as an organisation and financial reports.
The inputs and reports analysed the state of the revolution, state of the alliance and Party organisation and the balance of class forces. The PEC also undertook an honest reflection on the state of the organisation, focusing on addressing the subjective weaknesses and repositioning the Party in a fast-changing present to focus on effective implementation of Party decisions. PEC agreed to engage directly with lower structures both the political and internal organisational decisions and resolutions taken.
*Reclaiming the soul of the revolution from neoliberal onslaught: confronting our own weaknesses to transition to full-scale practical implementation*
The PEC considered an analysis the state of the revolution and the vulnerabilities the NDR is exposed to, especially due to the neoliberal onslaught and subjective weaknesses in the movement. The neoliberal class forces from within and without the organisation and the state are emboldened and are increasingly overt, aggressive, and resolute in advancing externally imposed neoliberal policy prescripts and programmes. The privatisation of the energy, transport, network infrastructure and the fiscal and austerity measures, including the expansion of dollar-denominated indebtedness of the country as these are further normalised in the recent medium-term budget policy statement are a cause of serious concern. On the other hand, any semblance of progressive programmes and decisions are invariably antiquated by inaction in the government of neoliberal unity.
The PEC argued that these advances are possible because amongst others, the centrality and cohesion of the alliance is deliberately being eroded and marginalised. The leader of the alliance has effectively embraced unilateralism on key decision that appears weaponised for factional consolidation and exclusion of the alliance partners. In this regard, the PEC cautioned about developing rifts in the ANC in the province that are more and more taking factional forms anchored at and giving credence to the contending centres of power in the organisation and government.
The unilateral decision of the ANC in the province, endorsed by its national leadership to reconfigure political leadership in several municipalities without consultation is one example that condemn the alliance into a symbolic rather than a strategic political entity. Despite efforts by the Party to engage meaningfully with the ANC for a collective assessment, these have not materialised. The PEC also noted the developments with regards to court decision on the possible dissolution of Ngwathe after clarification of the technicalities of the judgement. The PEC directed Josie Mpama District to initiate consultative engagements and ready the Party for this eventuality.
The PEC honestly assessed the state of the Party organisation and adopted programmatic measures to improve the coordination of Party work, fast-track the establishment and expansion of Party structures and elections structures, work with the trade union movement as well as preparations for the launch of the provincial People’s Red Caravan, the Red Book launch and the revival of the provincial chapter of friends of Cuba society (FOCUS) and intensified international solidarity work. Party structures and activists were directed to work with communities in resolving societal challenges on an ongoing basis.
*Rejecting diversionary tactics, and Anchoring the Party to practically advance implementation of Party decisions*
The PEC noted with great disappointment the conduct of the National Chairperson, comrade Blade Nzimande purportedly acting in his personal capacity in publicly releasing a document about the Party to the public, calling for an internal meeting of the Party he leads publicly. In the last analysis, the PEC rejected this largely regurgitated and opportunistically repackaged attempt with some worrying undertones as a diversion, distortion and intended revisionism of Party resolution which stands as the democratic will of the Party.
The PEC mandated its representatives to utilise upcoming Party platforms to internally address this matter further, and nib in the bud an emerging foreign and rebellious tendency rearing its ugly head in what appears to be coordinated and hellbent actions to paralyse the unity and cohesion of the Party from within.
The PEC accepted the necessity for Party leaders, especially leading figures to unmute and break any self-imposed silence from agitating and propagating for practical advancement of Party decisions. However, the PEC warned that such utterances and contributions should advance, rather than revise implementation of Party decisions, elucidate rather than obscure such decisions and spur the Party into action rather than entanglement into perpetual theoretical mark-timing when the NDR is characterised as in an interregnum. This is the Communist discipline expected of Party leaders and members alike, to act as one, after competent bodies of the Party have decided.
*COSATU 40 Years of working class struggles*
The PEC extended well wishes to COSATU as it will celebrates its 40th Anniversary in service as the shield and spear of the working class. For the coming decade, the PEC wish COSATU working class unity and consistent action in the interests of the working class in the face of a bullish neoliberal agenda and a crisis ridden capitalist system that continues to produce and reproduce unemployment, poverty, inequality, underdevelopment and intensifying high cost of living as well as tightening austerity measures. COSATU can count of the Party to remain a dependable vanguard, especially in practical struggles of the workers.
All Party Structures, all workers and communities are encouraged to join all activities of COSATU in the run-up to the 40th Anniversary rally.
ISSUED BY THE SACP Free State Province
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Press alert: Media invitation to SACP Annual Augmented Central Committee post-meeting press briefing
Mbulelo Mandlana, SACP Head of Media, Communications and Information, 25 November 2025
The South African Communist Party (SACP) will hold its Plenary Augmented Central Committee from Friday to Sunday, 28 – 30 November 2025.
The SACP invites the media to cover the post-meeting press briefing where General Secretary Solly Mapaila will lead the National Office Bearers to communicate the key outcomes of the Augmented Central Committee Plenary.
Post-meeting press briefing is scheduled to take place as follows:
Date: Sunday, 30 November 2025.
Time: 15h00
Venue: Birchwood Hotel Boksburg
The crucial three-day SACP Annual Augmented Central Committee Plenary will be attended by elected Central Committee members, Provincial Secretaries and Chairpersons, the Young Communist League National Secretary and Chairperson, as well as additional representatives from Party districts, provincial executive committees and the Young Communist League.
The Augmented Central Committee Plenary is a strategic planning session of the SACP. Its main objective is to review the year to date and develop the framework for the political and organisational programme of action for the following year.
The SACP Augmented Central Committee Plenary will receive various reports on the work of the Party since the Party’s previous Central Committee Plenary. SACP General Secretary Solly Mapaila will present the Political Report, including an analysis of the South African, African continental and global situation.
Both the political and organisational reports will assess the economic, social and political challenges facing the working class, responses and the state of Alliance relations, including detailed reports on bilateral meetings between the SACP and its Alliance partners. The SACP will also assess the Party’s state of readiness for the upcoming 2026 local government elections in which the Party will contest independently in its name as per Congress resolutions.
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID
International-Solidarity
WFTU Statement for the 29th of November International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
26 November 2025
The 29th of November is observed as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The World Federation of Trade Unions expresses its unwavering solidarity with the heroic Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, dignity, and justice. This year marks more than two years since the beginning of the genocide against our brothers and sisters in Palestine, where over 63,000 lives have been lost, with numbers tragically increasing.
The cessation of military operations in Gaza strip is certainly a development that relieves every progressive and peace-loving person.
However, despite the fanfare and self-congratulations of the so-called peacemakers, the criminal Netanyahu history has proven that agreements like this one, imposed by the imperialists “with a gun to the head”, can bring neither just nor lasting peace, because they serve the interests of the monopolies, not those of the peoples. It is an agreement that buries the just and lawful aspirations of the Palestinian people for an end to the occupation and the establishment of their own independent state.
The agreement on which the ceasefire is based, as well as the entire management of its implementation, takes place under the control and supervision of the United States, which has always been the consistent ally of Israel.
The incredible brutality demonstrated by the murderous Israeli state, which cost the lives of tens of thousands of civilians—most of whom were children, women, and the elderly—the massive destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, and, in general, of the most basic infrastructure for a dignified life, and the violent displacement of millions of people from their places of residence, are acts committed before the eyes of the entire humanity. For these crimes, the Israeli state and those responsible for these decisions must undoubtedly be held accountable.
Responsibility for these crimes also lies with all the governments that economically and militarily support Israel, providing not only political and diplomatic cover but also the material means for this unprecedented barbarity. The United States, along with the European Union and their other NATO allies, bear equal responsibility for the genocide and ethnic cleansing that has taken place in Gaza and for the fact that Israeli occupation and settlement expansion have been sustained for decades, with the rights of the Palestinian people being brutally violated.
The WFTU, as always, stands by the Palestinian people, demanding an end to all economic, military, and political cooperation with the murderous state of Israel, the immediate restoration of the destruction and the creation of conditions for a dignified life for the residents of Gaza, the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces both from the Gaza Strip and from the West Bank, and the immediate cessation of the illegal and criminal settlement of Palestinian lands.
It is clear that peace in the Middle East can only be established with Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories and the full implementation of the relevant UN resolutions for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The WFTU calls on its affiliates and friends to intensify their solidarity activities for Palestine.
Long live internationalist solidarity!
Long live Palestine!
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“80 years of international trade union struggle – Stop violence, exploitation and war.
Safety, dignity and equality for all women”
25 November 2025
On 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) renews its struggle for a world free from violence, exploitation and war, recalling that in 2025 we will also celebrate 80 years of international trade union commitment alongside workers around the world.
Violence against women is never an individual or private matter. It is rooted in the power structures of capitalism, economic and social inequalities, patriarchal culture and the militarisation of territories. Wars, occupations and armed conflicts disproportionately affect women, increasing poverty, instability and insecurity. Similarly, economic exploitation, low wages, precarious work, lack of rights and the reduction of public services fuel violence and discrimination.
The WFTU fights for a world where women’s dignity and safety are top priorities, where work is safe and fairly paid, where every woman can live free from violence and fear. On this day, we remember in particular the situation in Palestine, where women today are suffering genocide and have been suffering the consequences of war, occupation and Israel’s policies of oppression for 77 years.
Trade union organisations affiliated to the WFTU have always maintained that the fight against violence against women is closely linked to the fight for workers’ rights, decent wages, safe housing, public education, healthcare and accessible social services. No woman can be free without access to economic resources, social protection and freedom from war and systemic violence.
On this day, the WFTU reaffirms:
The need for effective legislation against all forms of violence, discrimination and exploitation;
The right of women to safe work, decent wages and equal opportunities;
The fight against imperialist wars and all forms of occupation;
The right to education, contraception, social spaces and free public services, which are fundamental tools for women’s autonomy and protection;
The need to combat patriarchy and the culture of violence, including through trade union campaigns, information campaigns and concrete actions on the ground.
The WFTU and its affiliates call on all trade unions and workers to mobilise, build international solidarity and support concrete actions against violence against women, predatory capitalism, exploitation and wars. Only collective struggle and the participation of workers can create a world where safety, dignity, equality and freedom are a reality for all women.
80 years of international trade union struggle.
Stop violence against women. Stop exploitation and war. Freedom and justice for Palestine. Safety, dignity and equality for all women!
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Norman Mampane (Shopsteward Editor)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Street, Braamfontein, 2017
P.O.Box 1019, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 Direct line: 010 219-1348