Taking COSATU Today Forward, 17 February 2025 #NoToAusterityMeasures #L20
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #Cosatu scheduled to participate in the #NoToBudgetCuts protest march in Cape Town this week! #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
Taking COSATU Today Forward
‘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
17 February 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU, FEDUSA, NACTU and SAFTU to co-host L20 Summit in Gqeberha, amplifying workers' voices on the global stage
- SAMWU Condemns Tshwane’s R44 Million lawyer splurge while workers suffer
- South Africa
- COSATU Budget Expectations Statement
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- COSATU is deeply concerned by US President Trump's announcement of likely tariffs on South African exports
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU, FEDUSA, NACTU and SAFTU to co-host L20 Summit in Gqeberha, amplifying workers' voices on the global stage
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 16 February 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), FEDUSA, NACTU and SAFTU will co-host the Labour 20 (L20) Summit in Gqeberha from February 18 to19. This pivotal event coincides with South Africa's presidency of the G20 in 2025, providing a crucial platform for workers in Africa and the Global South to advance a progressive agenda.
The G20, comprising 19 countries plus the African Union and the European Union, represents 85% of the global economy, 75% of world trade, and 67% of the world's population. As the G20 presidency rotates annually, South Africa's leadership in 2025 offers a unique opportunity to shape the global agenda.
Under the theme, "Solidarity, Inclusion, and Sustainability," South Africa has prioritised key areas including hunger and poverty, debt and development, inclusion, just transition, sustainable financing for development, reform of the international financial architecture, strengthening the WTO, digital transformation, and governance of critical minerals. A central focus will be placing Africa's development at the forefront of the G20 agenda.
The L20, as the strategic platform for labour within the G20 framework, will convene under the theme, "Living and working in an unequal world: ensuring decent work and decent lives." Its four priorities are inclusive growth and youth development, gender equality in the workforce, addressing inequality and a declining labour income share, and digitalisation, platform work, and the inclusive future of work. Organised labour played a key role in shaping this theme, ensuring it reflects the pressing challenges faced by workers.
The four federations’ priorities for the L20 and G20 include:
· Demanding implementation and reporting on previous progressive commitments related to collective bargaining, minimum wages, social dialogue, social protection, and job security.
· Advocating for workers' issues to be central not only to the L20 but also other G20 working streams, particularly finance, development, climate change, and just transition.
· Promoting inclusive economies with a focus on women workers, youth, and people with disabilities.
· Demanding the transformation of multilateral institutions and addressing debt and fiscal austerity measures imposed on developing countries, including advocating for debt justice.
· Promoting a global tax system that prevents tax evasion and considers a wealth tax on the super-rich.
· Pushing for tangible and measurable benefits for workers.
· Securing binding agreements to ensure continued progress even after the US takes over the G20 presidency in 2026.
We, as organised labour in South Africa, recognise the G20 as a crucial arena for advancing the interests of workers and the working class in the Global South. The L20 summit in Gqeberha will serve as a powerful platform to amplify workers' voices and drive meaningful change on a global scale with particular attention to workers in Africa and the Global South.
Issued by COSATU
Zanele Sabela (National Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788
Email: zan...@cosatu.org.za
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Invitation to the G20 Provincial Launch and Dialogue
Dear Guest
G20 PROVINCIAL LAUNCH AND DIALOGUE
As South Africa assumes the presidency of the Group Twenty (G20). Gauteng Provincial Government embark to host G20 Provincial Lauch and Dialogue scheduled for Tuesday, 18 February 2025.The G20, a critical platform for global economic cooperation, shapes the future of global governance and has significant impact on South Africa and the broader African continent.
You are cardinally invited to a G20 Provincial Lauch and Dialogue as follows:
Details are as follows:
Date: 18 February 2025
Time: 13h00
Venue: Bunting Road Campus Auditorium, School of Tourism and Hospitality , University of Johannesburg.
Please receive the attached invitation.
For more information, please contact Vuyo Mhaga at (011) 355 6871 or 076 636 5193.
Kind regards
Lusanda Ndoko
Office of the Premier
Tel: 0113556000 Cell: 0674168242
Email: Lusand...@gauteng.gov.za
Web: www.gauteng.gov.za
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SAMWU Condemns Tshwane’s R44 Million Lawyer Splurge While Workers Suffer
Donald Monakhisi, SAMWU Regional Secretary, 17 February 2025
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) in the Tshwane Region stands vindicated, but outraged by the Sunday Times article published 16 February 2025, revealing the City of Tshwane’s shameful squandering of R44 million on a single law firm over three years.
While workers have been denied their hard-earned 3.5% and 5.4% salary increases, the City has chosen to line the pockets of private lawyers at a staggering cost of R1 million per month. This is not just financial mismanagement, it is a moral failure, a betrayal of public trust, and a direct attack on the dignity of municipal workers.
For years, SAMWU has sounded the alarm against the City’s obsession with outsourcing, particularly its reliance on expensive lawyers to handle disciplinary cases and labour disputes.
These are matters that should be resolved internally, with fairness and transparency, not handed over to profit-driven firms that prioritise billing over justice and labour relations.
The Union has consistently demanded an end to this corrupt system, even petitioning the Judge President of the Labour Court to investigate the unethical conduct of this very law firm.
Yet, the City has turned a deaf ear, choosing instead to burn public funds while withholding the meagre wage increases workers deserve.
It is immoral and unconscionable for the City to shower lawyers with millions while workers struggle to feed their families. How can a municipality claim poverty when refusing salary increases, yet find endless reserves to bankroll legal firms? How can it justify outsourcing justice to entities that actively undermine workers’ rights? This is not governance; it is exploitation.
SAMWU demands immediate action.
There must be a full, independent investigation into the City’s use of lawyers, including the criteria for their appointment, the legality of payments, and their role in delaying workers’ rights. The outsourcing of legal services, particularly in disciplinary cases, must come to an end.
These matters must be handled internally to ensure fairness and accountability. Furthermore, the City must immediately implement the outstanding salary increases for workers, funded by redirecting the millions wasted on private firms.
The time for empty promises is over. The City’s priorities are clear: it values lawyers over labourers, profit over people, and secrecy over service. SAMWU will not rest until every cent of public money is accounted for, until workers receive what they are owed, and until this culture of reckless outsourcing is dismantled.
Enough is enough—the era of impunity must end.
Issued by SAMWU Tshwane Region
COSATU Budget Expectations Statement
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 14 February 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) hopes that government will not disappoint the nation when it tables the 2025/26 Budget at Parliament on 19 February. The working class and society at large are battling numerous dire socio-economic crises.
Now is not the time for a business-as-usual approach.
What is needed is a bold, progressive and aggressive budget that will capacitate the state to deliver the quality public services society and the economy depend upon, to stimulate badly needed growth and slash unemployment to generate the revenue the state requires, to provide relief to the unemployed whilst the economy picks up.
What we cannot afford is yet another attempt by Treasury to delude ourselves into believing that tinkering at the sides will make a difference. Nor should we fool ourselves into thinking that inflicting pain upon the poor and the working class is a sound economic model.
If we are to turn South Africa around, then we need to:
- Ramp up support for Eskom to ensure loadshedding and load reduction is a thing of the past and that consumers and industries have reliable and affordable electricity.
- Intensify interventions at Transnet and Metro Rail to ensure they are returned to full productivity as these will unlock the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors; major sources of revenue and jobs; as well as providing safe and cheap transport to commuters for going to work and thus boosting the urban economy.
- Put in place urgent measures to stablise the increasing numbers of dysfunctional municipalities and shift towards a new funding and District Development model.
- Provide frontline public services in particular education, law enforcement, health, home affairs amongst others the resources they require to fulfil their mandates.
- Accelerate the roll out of the public infrastructure programme and tackle blockages to it, in particular criminality.
- Develop a new mass industrial financing programme mobilising resources from both the public and private sector for SMMEs, industrialisation and export investments.
- Expand public employment programmes to provide the skills, training and experience participants need to find permanent work.
- Provide relief for the unemployed through the SRD Grant and link its participants to skills and employment opportunities.
The economy will grow if we fix the state, stimulate growth and slash unemployment. It will not grow by squeezing already badly under resourced public services further.
COSATU will vehemently reject any increase on taxes upon the working class, in particular VAT or personal income tax for low-income earners. Such increases would plunge workers and their families who are already bleeding from the rising costs of living and a 400 basis points hike in the repo rate, deeper into debt. A VAT increase will stoke inflation.
Such hikes would suck money out of the economy when it is most needed to stimulate growth.
It would send a message to society that government cares more about balancing tables and graphs then workers being able to put food on the table and pay for electricity.
This is a message that politicians would be very wise to listen to as we head towards the highly contested 2026 local government elections, in particular our ally, the African National Congress.
Revenue must be secured through investing in the South African Revenue Service by providing it the resources it needs to tackle tax evasion and customs fraud. An additional R3 billion injection into SARS will enable it to boost tax compliance from 64% to 67% generating an additional R60 billion in revenue owing to the state. It makes no sense to whip those who pay their taxes and ignore those who don’t.
Government has a choice, we can continue upon the path that squeezes the poor and starves public services and somehow hope that will spark an economic recovery or we can be sober and fix the state and ensure it has the resources it needs, stimulate growth and slash unemployment and in particular give SARS the tools it requires to collect the funds the fiscus desperately needs.
COSATU will reject any attempt to dump the bill upon workers and the poor.
Now is the time when government needs to rise to the occasion and deliver the Marshall Plan that will take our economy to the 3% growth we need.
We simply cannot afford another limp budget let alone one that pickpockets workers through VAT or personal income tax hikes.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
COSATU is deeply concerned by US President Trump's announcement of likely tariffs on South African exports
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 14 February 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is deeply worried by the United States (US)’ President Donald Trump’s announcement of pending tariffs on South African and other nations’ exports. This threatens thousands of South African agricultural, mining, jewellery, chemicals, auto, clothing and other manufacturing jobs amongst others.
With a 41.9% unemployment rate, we cannot afford further job losses.
We look forward to clarity from the US government on the impact of this executive order upon the African Growth and Opportunities Act that has provided tariff free access to the US market for the majority of the African continent, including South Africa. It will be important for the US government to engage South Africa’s government to ensure the pending country eligibility and tariff review is based upon facts and takes into consideration South Africa and the continent’s severe socio-economic and developmental challenges, and how AGOA and its renewal could be utilised to support our economic development and regional integration.
The potential removal of South Africa from AGOA or even its entire scrapping would be a painful blow and threaten millions of jobs across Africa. We hope such a move would be reconsidered by the US government and Congress.
The Federation is worried by the freeze on aid to South Africa and other nations by the US government and the impact this may have on the lives of South Africans living with HIV/AIDS. It is critical that South Africa’s government ensure these programmes are not stopped and that funding be found, including insourcing all community health workers as per the recent court judgement won by our affiliate, NEHAWU.
COSATU is concerned by the recent tensions between the US government and South Africa. These are worrying given our pressing unemployment rate, weak economic growth and the need to attract investment. American investments and South African exports to the US support 500 000 South African jobs and account for 10% of our exports.
We have full confidence in government led by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s steady and sober leadership during these turbulent geo-political tensions.
Whilst South Africa must aggressively seek to attract investment and boost trade, we must simultaneously safeguard our constitutional democracy and sovereignty.
COSATU stands firmly with the President and government in defence of South Africa’s values and transformation mandate. No country can be allowed to dictate to the people of South Africa their path.
We are a robust and noisy democracy, but we will not tolerate any attempts to intimidate us. South Africa’s values are reflected in our foreign policy anchored upon the principles of peace and justice, solidarity and development, non-alignment and African unity.
We bear the painful scars of apartheid, colonialism and genocide and stand with all nations experiencing such tyranny, including the Palestinian people.
We will continue to support government’s efforts to develop strong relationships with all nations. This must be accompanied by ramped up support to boost exports and diversify trade with not only key trading partners in America, Europe, China, Japan and India but in particular Southern Africa and Africa, where our destiny lays.
COSATU has over the past three years worked closely with government and Organised Business to navigate the complexities of our relations with the US, including engaging our sister labour movement, the AFL-CIO as well as the US government, Republicans and Democrats in both Houses of Congress, and the business community.
We will continue to play our part in support of government’s efforts in this regard.
We are heartened by the sense of unity shown by the overwhelming majority of South Africans across the political spectrum during this period. We must condemn those fringe right wing elements who have chosen to peddle shameful lies in their desperation for publicity and fundraising gimmicks.
History will judge them harshly.
Nor should we tolerate the spewers of hate speech on social media. Such miscreants must be dealt with as per the Prevention and Combating of Hate Speech and Crimes Act.
The Federation welcomes the President’s call in his 2024 Opening of Parliament Address for a National Dialogue that must play a critical role in addressing the still painful scars and divisions across society. It is clear that the wounds of the past have not healed, and will not heal, until the dispossession of the past and the inequalities of today are addressed.
Issued by COSATU
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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