Taking COSATU Today Forward, 18 November 2025 #Cosatu@40 #Cosatu40thAnniversary

[Norman Mampane]

 

COSATU TODAY #G20SocialSummit is underway at Boksburg #G20SouthAfrica #VioletSeboniBrigade #Cosatu40thAnniversary #COP30noBrasil#JustTransition #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

‘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

18 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 proposals to stem the current wave of retrenchments to Parliament, Wednesday, 19 November 2025
• COSATU will present its submission on the Revised and Proposed Fiscal Framework: Medium-Term Budget Policy State Statement to Parliament, Wednesday, 19 November 2025

• Applications for media accreditation to cover COSATU 40^th Anniversary rally officially opened

• COSATU to host lectures in the lead up to 40^th anniversary

• South Africa
• Address by COSATU General Secretary to SACCAWU National Collective Bargaining Workshop, 18-21 November 2025
• COSATU notes the charging of Dr. Malusi Gigaba, MP, and urges the ANC to action its step aside resolution
• Statement delivered by Samwu Petrus Mashishi (Johannesburg) Region on the conclusion of PFA negotiations on 18 November 2025
• International-Workers’ Solidarity!
• Nepal: Education unions unite for transformative gender justice

Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics  

COSATU will present its proposals to stem the current wave of retrenchments to Parliament, Wednesday, 19 November 2025

Tony Ehrenreich, COSATU Deputy Parliamentary Coordinator, 18 November 2025

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will present its proposals to stem the current wave of retrenchments to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee: Employment and Labour from 0900 Wednesday, 19 November 2025 (virtual platform).

Issued by COSATU

__________________________

COSATU will present its submission on the Revised and Proposed Fiscal Framework: Medium-Term Budget Policy State Statement to Parliament Wednesday 19 November 2025

Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 18 November 2025

COSATU will present its submission on the Revised and Proposed Fiscal Framework (Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement) to Parliament’s Standing and Select Committees: Finance from 0900, Wednesday, 19 November 2025 (virtual platform).

Issued by COSATU

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Applications for media accreditation to cover COSATU 40^th 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 40^th 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

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COSATU to host lectures in the lead up to 40^th anniversary

Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 25 September 2025

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is set the host a series of lectures in the lead up to its 40^th anniversary celebration at Dobsonville Stadium on 6 December.

 

The culmination of four years of unity talks, COSATU came into being on 1 December 1985, and brought together 33 competing unions and federations opposed to apartheid and whose common goal was to bring about a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society.

 

The Federation has been at the forefront of advancing, defending and protecting the interests and rights of workers since, and has led in the formation of the country’s progressive labour laws including workers’ rights to form trade unions, collective bargaining and to strike, minimum conditions of service, National Minimum Wage, etc.

 

From its vehement resistance of apartheid to the ushering in of the democratic dispensation and improving the economic and social wellbeing of the working class 31 years post democracy, COSATU has stood the test of time.

 

In the lead up to its 40^th anniversary in December, the Federation will host a variety of activities starting with a series of lectures by its National Office Bearers.

 

The lectures will tackle diverse subjects from COSATU’s pivotal role in gender struggles to the strike that broke the back of industry-wide exploitative labour practices as far back as 1959.  

 

Province: North-West
Date: 19 November

Topic: Strengthening Industrial Unions to build a militant COSATU        

Main Speaker: Duncan Luvuno, COSATU 2nd Deputy President

Province: Eastern Cape
Date: 20 November

Topic: COSATU and the Reconfiguration of the Alliance      

Main Speaker: Gerald Twala, COSATU Deputy General Secretary

Province: Gauteng
Date: 21 November

Topic: COSATU and the Mass Democratic Movement 

Main Speaker: Zingiswa Losi, COSATU President 

 

Issued by COSATU

South Africa

Address by COSATU General Secretary to SACCAWU National Collective Bargaining Workshop, 18-21 November 2025

Solly Phetoe, COSATU General Secretary, 18 November 2025

Introduction

COSATU is honoured for this opportunity to address the SACCAWU National Collective Bargaining Workshop. The timing of convening such a meeting is Ideal considering the critical period we are in currently organisational and politically.

We must on the onset congratulate SACCAWU/ CCAWUSA- 50 years of Workers' Struggles in the commercial sector, this is indeed a milestone worth celebrating. The union with stood setbacks caused by massive retrenchments/ rebranding and restructuring of the retail stores and hotels, in the mid-90's until currently.

The general state of the labour movement in South Africa must worry us as must unemployment which has risen from around 19% in 1994 to 40% now. The levels of inequality have increased since 1994, which means that the policy direction of the country has taken a wrong direction. The poverty levels would have deepened if it was not for the social grants, which has increased provided relief for the lowest income households.

Unions must push for the Basic Income Grant to provide relieve for the structurally unemployed, who otherwise would need about 15% of workers income forming part of remittance to poorer households. These negotiations will unfold at Nedlac and should be supported by all Unions as part of an overall income strategy.  

Unions have a direct interest in ensuring that social services are more effectively provided, so workers do not need to buy those social services like health care from the private sector. This would ensure workers have more disposable income.

Collective Bargaining and SACCAWU

On actual bargaining SACCAWU has done well but it has to also respond more effectively to the new challenges emerging and the new environment arsing through work reorganisation and corporate restructuring.

SACCAWU must respond more deliberately to cashier less tills and franchise stores, to be covered by company agreements. Soma areas of benefit funds and conditions of employment should be centralised in Bargaining Council negotiations. The ability of unions to secure the interest of workers and respond to their challenges in the bargaining process is clearly an important area of union service.

Unions will also have a new challenge to respond to South African companies moving into the Continent as part of the Continental agreement. This should be part of the unions’ bargaining processes and extending the floor of rights in companies across Africa. This will build continental solidarity and strengthen union power and influence.

Unions must also extend their focus of bargaining to include a focus on industrial policy and value chains. This means that SACCAWU should also influence company procurement processes to ensure that they purchased locally and promote a proudly SA campaign to expand employment economic growth.

Workers join trade unions to improve their conditions of employment and defend their jobs security.  So, we have to expand our focus into how the retail sector is restructuring and ensure that workers’ interests are defended. This would mean a clear focus on the Competition Commission and its conditions for mergers, that are meant to protect workers. If this is not adequate, then we would need to reconsider the law and its effectiveness in protecting workers.

Collective bargaining is a process where representatives of employees (usually a union) and the employer negotiate the terms and conditions of employment, including wages, benefits, working hours, and other aspects of the employment relationship.

This process is Important as it gives workers a voice in decisions affecting their working lives, Promotes fair wages and benefits, improves working conditions and it reduces conflict and promotes stability in the workplace

Collective bargaining is a means to improve workers' conditions within the existing capitalist system, but also as a way to educate and organise workers for broader revolutionary change.

It is a tactical tool, not an end in itself.

As Lenin said, "The struggle for better conditions is an essential part of the class struggle."

Membership Growth

Comrades membership growth is a very important campaign of every union for its survival and strength because without numbers a union will be week and won’t make meaningful impact or bring about improvements in the lives of its members.

SACCAWU has a huge opportunity to recruit and organise in the fast-growing Shopping Centre business in the Country, in 2021 there were 190 Shopping Centres and now in 2025, we count well above 240, according to Africa scope announcement.

The Wholesale and Retail SETA Sector Skills Plan of 2024 reported that there are almost 3.2 million workers in the sector (inclusive of hotels and restaurants) and there are more than 24 000 employers who are levy payers and employ well above 1.6 million workers.

CATHSSETA Sector Skills Plan of 2023/24 reported that there are more than 40 000 levy paying employers who employ about 220 000 workers, in their sector

With all the above developments, SACCAWU has an opportunity to be the biggest union in COSATU, if not in South Africa because the growth in the retail, hospitality and commercial property sectors favours the union.

As we intensify our recruitment campaigns to grow the Union and the Federation, it is critical to sustain the current membership, and we can do that by improving service to members. I would not want to define what servicing members entails as I’m talking to well-seasoned comrades with vast experience in this regard and all I can ask is for all of us to put members interest first and service them come rain or sun.

Collective Bargaining Strategy

For us to bargain effectively we must recruit members in all the sectors that the scope of the union covers but prioritising the growing sub-sectors such as retail, hospitality, commercial property management services including Food/ Grocery delivery services linked to specific enterprises, such as Checkers Sixty60 & Pick n Pay Asap!

The union should champion the formation of a Centralised Sectoral Bargaining Structures and move away from enterprise level bargaining, as it is exhausting their resources, both financial and human. The union should also extend their participation in the Bargaining Councils where SACCAWU has substantial membership.

These are some of the areas that I thought of that could be considered by you delegates as you will be engaging each other in this important workshop.

COSATU Priority Campaigns

Key priority campaigns must include:

• 40^th anniversary celebrations in Dobsonville Stadium
• Membership growth and service
• Health and safety at the workplace
• Local government elections
• Defence of Collective Bargaining
• Fight against Gender-Based Violence
• Working with Unions facing challenges

These are priorities we are expected to implement and we are already rolling them out as we speak.

The National Congress revisited the membership figures to be recruited and set a New target of 2.5 million by 2035.

Comrades this is a very modest target, I say this because statistics indicate that almost 70% of employed people across all economic sectors don’t belong to a union, meaning the four active Federations in the country including unaffiliated independent unions only organise 30% of the working people.

All this shows that our work is cut-out comrades, we must take recruitment seriously.

In practice this means that All COSATU Affiliates must grow their membership and we are glad that SACCAWU out of its National Congress has prioritised membership Growth, and we would want to encourage you to partake in the Federation’s “Red Friday Recruitment Campaign”.

This a COSATU recruitment campaign implemented by all 9 COSATU provinces working with Affiliates. Every Friday an industrial area and sector must be identified for recruitment.

The COSATU Organisational Commission recommended to the CEC that focus and attention should be put to the private sector unions considering that majority of workers who are unorganised are within the private sector. SACCAWU should take advantage of this period to grow its membership and truth be told comrades, SACCAWU has a potential of being the biggest union in the federation.

Comrades, much work continues to be done by COSATU with affiliates, in particular, SACCAWU at Nedlac, Parliament, in the industrial master plans and bargaining councils.

We must not forget that it was SACTWU in March 2020 who first proposed the Two Pot Pension Reforms.  Today it is the law of the Republic with more than 3.5 million workers having received over R57 billion to date.

Engagements are taking place on reducing the tax burden upon workers, enabling fund members to access further relief and to ensure that workers losing their jobs are able to access all their savings.

Engagements are taking place at Nedlac on the labour law reforms led by the GS of SACCAWU, cde. Mdu.  In 2022 when government and business tabled their proposals, we were shocked by their attempts to gut the progressive labour laws that took workers decades of hard-fought struggles to win.

We adopted a deliberate strategy to wear down government, to divide government from business and when the time was right after three years of intense monthly and weekly negotiations, to strike and offer compromises on areas that would not harm workers, to block proposals that would weaken workers’ rights and to score victories that would extend protections to millions.

SAFTU and other armchair critics claim the labour laws will be weakened and that COSATU has sold out.  They claimed the same lies when we achieved the National Minimum Wage, the Two Pot Pension Reforms and countless other victories.

The reality is that SAFTU does not have capacity and only attended 3 out of more than 30 meetings.  Yet they are always available to fly to Geneva!

Whilst COSATU did not achieve all we had sought at Nedlac, we are confident that we have managed to ensure workers’ rights remain secure and that many critical gains advancing workers’ protections have been won, including:

Defeating a variety of proposals to weaken our labour laws and roll back workers’ hard won rights.

• Defeating proposals to exempt SMMEs from the majority of labour laws.
• Defeating proposals to reduce the National Minimum Wage to R20 an hour.
• Defeating proposals to extend the limit on labour broking to 12 months.
• Defeating proposals to remove protections from dismissals for persons under 30 years of age.
• Defeating proposals to exempt SMMEs from having to pay retrenchment payments if they had not yet operated for 2 years.
• Increasing severance pay for workers losing their jobs from one to two weeks per year employed.
• Extending protections for the National Minimum Wage including from deductions.
• Guaranteeing on-call workers a minimum number of shifts to ensure they can earn sufficient income to take care of themselves.
• Requiring labour inspectors to check pension fund payments compliance by employers.
• UIF assisting workers in the event of an employer defaulting on monies owed.
• Recognising the rights of atypical workers to join trade unions and engage in collective bargaining e.g. artists, musicians and actors.
• Further negotiations that will take place soon on ensuring atypical workers enjoy the protection of the UIF and Compensation Fund.
• BCEA provisions compelling employers to pay their employees’ pension contributions will be strengthened including requiring interest to be paid for late payments to the workers’ funds.

Some areas of substantial disagreement remain, including exempting start-ups from collective bargaining council agreements.  COSATU is continuing to engage with government on these to ensure that when the Bills are tabled before Parliament, those and all other remaining areas of disagreement are resolved in the interests of workers.

The Bills are now before the state law advisor and will then be released for public comment and later retabled at Nedlac for final consideration.  They will then be submitted to Cabinet and Parliament, which would hold further public consultations.  COSATU remains confident that the final legislation will continue to protect workers’ rights and that such protections will be further extended.

We hope that at some stage SAFTU’s leadership will mature to play a constructive role at Nedlac.  Seeking media headlines may entertain friends over drinks but does nothing to strengthen workers’ rights in law or reality. 

This same SAFTU again is absent from the Nedlac engagements on the Merchant Shipping Bill where through COSATU’s interventions we have secured agreement to extend all labour rights to merchant and fishing workers. 

Again SAFTU is absent when we have been engaging on the Unemployment Insurance and Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Acts at Nedlac, and winning important victories through increases maternity leave benefits and extending cover to millions of atypical and unprotected workers.

Revolutions are won through honesty and hard work.  Negotiations require you to pitch up and engage.

Comrades it is important that SACCAWU continue to work COSATU at Nedlac.  In fact if it were not for SACCAWU’s leadership and support, we would not have achieved many of the victories we have won over many years at Nedlac.

It is equally important that we take this information to members and workers, train and empower them to claim their rights. 

We will head to the most difficult local government elections in 2026 where if we cannot convince our members, their families and the working class on the importance of voting and voting for the Alliance, we may find the National Democratic Revolution and our many gains under severe threat.

We have seen coalitions breed instability with mayors changing left, right and centre and little progress made to fix local government or deliver basic services.  We have seen municipal workers left unpaid, pensions pickpocketed, and companies close.

Again, our leadership in government needs to move much faster to turn things around before it is too late.

We need equally to ensure that the Alliance is not only radically reconfigured but also united.  The African National Congress and the South African Communist Party are our allies.  We respect and support them.  But we need them not to divide workers. 

The ANC and the SACP must engage and find each other and explain to us the modalities to unite the Alliance, including the SACP’s decision to contest state power. 

This is a matter that Affiliates must deliberate on, not as leaders but with our membership across the country.  We have set a process as the CEC to engage on this sensitive issue, including holding Special CECs and the September COSATU Central Committee and ultimately our National Congress in 2026.

Workers at the CC were clear.  We must ensure that the Alliance is united, members are mobilised and the working class turns out in decisive numbers to return the movement to power in the local elections.  Not to enrich politicians but to deliver a better life to all our people.

All of these can only be won, if we have a strong SACCAWU and COSATU.

We must raise the alarm bells that our membership continues to shrink, many affiliates remain fragile and our campaigns are not felt by workers.

SACCAWU remains an exception.  A union that can be felt across the hotels, that is growing across shopping centres, that is engaged with members and responding to their needs. 

SACCAWU needs to share these experiences with other unions who struggle to get the basics right.

But SACCAWU can and must do better.  Your membership is too small.  Can we not push it to 150 000 paid up by the Congress?  Can we ramp up our campaigns to recruit and service restaurant workers?

Can SACCAWU not offer training sessions to shop stewards and organisers on how to recruit and service members?  How to train and empower workers?  How to manage investment funds to benefit members not leaders?  How to maintain unity and democratic processes?  How to exemplify the non-racial, non-sexist vision of the Freedom Charter?

These are the life and blood of the labour movement.  We need SACCAWU to share these good stories with our comrades as many have forgotten these fundamentals.

In conclusion

Comrades, COSATU will be celebration its 40^th Anniversary on the 6^{th of} December 2025 at Dobsonville Stadium, we hope to see SACCAWU members in numbers at the Stadium, SACCAWU has been allocated to bring not less than 5000 workers, but this is just a guide, the union can mobilise far more than this figure.

Leadership allow me to conclude here, by thanking you for giving COSATU this opportunity to report to you, our members, and for all the support you have given the Federation and most importantly for all that you have done and continue to do for the working class.

Let me take this opportunity and thank you once more and wish you a fruitful deliberation in this workshop.

Amandla!

VIVA SACCAWU!

VIVA COSATU!

VIVA ANC!

VIVA SACP!

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COSATU notes the charging of Dr. Malusi Gigaba, MP, and urges the ANC to action its step aside resolution

Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 18 November 2025

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) notes the charging of Dr. Malusi Gigaba, Member of Parliament (MP), and his appearance in the Palm Ridge Court alongside other co-accused, including MPs from the MK Party, on allegations of serious corruption related to Transnet during his previous tenure as Minister for Public Enterprises. 

Whilst we do not celebrate anyone's predicament in such serious circumstances, we welcome Dr. Gigaba’s public commitment to offer his full cooperation to the courts and law enforcement.

Given Dr. Gigaba’s senior positions of leadership in Parliament, as an MP and Chairperson of its Joint Standing Committee on Defence, as well as a member of the African National Congress (ANC)’s National Executive Committee, it is imperative that the ANC’s progressive step aside resolution is adhered to without delay. 

This is critical not only to protecting the integrity of the ANC and Parliament but also to enabling Dr. Gigaba time to prepare for trial.  The strict enforcement of the ANC’s step aside resolution is fundamental to rebuilding the confidence of society in the liberation movement and in government as a whole.  The ANC’s firm commitment to the step aside has played an important role in its efforts to not only renew itself but also to ensure that the state is cleansed of the cancers of corruption and criminality, and the moral fabric of society is rebuilt.

It is a pity that the MK Party lacks the same commitment as the ANC towards dealing with the demons of corruption and is devoid of the moral compass to similarly require its public representatives to step aside once charged with criminal offences by law enforcement.  This is matter that the leadership of Parliament should be seized with, including reviewing the Constitution and its Rules in this regard.

The firmness of the ANC’s implementation of its step aside resolution for its public representatives and similarly government led by President Cyril Ramaphosa are critical to ensuring that corruption at all levels of state and the nation are tackled without fear or favour, and that even the most senior members of society are held accountable.

The Federation sincerely hopes that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is well prepared for this case.  All too often the NPA has moved swiftly to charge persons, only to be found woefully unprepared for trial.  A society recovering from a decade of state capture and corruption cannot afford to have its hopes prematurely raised.  Workers who have lost wages, pensions and jobs to corruption, demand more from the NPA.

As government prepares the 2026/27 Budget for tabling at Parliament, it needs to ensure that the NPA has the necessary resources, in particular prosecutors and other skilled personnel, to successfully prosecute cases and secure meaningful convictions. 

If we are to win the war against state capture, crime and corruption, then we need to ensure that law enforcement has all the tools necessary to emerge victorious.

Issued by COSATU

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Statement delivered by Samwu Petrus Mashishi (Johannesburg) Region on the conclusion of PFA negotiations on 18 November 2025

Thobani Nkosi, SAMWU Regional Secretary, 18 November 2025

Good morning members of the media, and fellow South Africans.

Today, November 18th, 2025, is a very good day for workers in the City of Johannesburg. We want to announce that today, SAMWU concluded an agreement with the City of Johannesburg that will finally and decisively address the scandalous salary disparities that have plagued this municipality for decades. 

It is upon this monumental victory for labour, a victory earned through years of sacrifice and struggle, that we must issue a statement of disappointment and anger at the continued smear campaign orchestrated by sensationalist media. 

We categorically reject the destructive, misleading narrative, spearheaded by the Sunday Times, that this hard-won settlement is the result of "blackmail" or an attempt to hold the G20 summit hostage. 

This dishonest public discourse does nothing but discredit a legitimate, CCMA-guided legal process and fundamentally disrespects the thousands of workers who have dedicated their lives, their sweat, and their energy to serving this city for decades. When the media chooses to sensationalize justice, they become complicit in perpetuating injustice. We are forced to ask: Why is the media so eager to frame a long-overdue victory for justice as an act of crime?

We need to be clear, this agreement is not merely a transient political negotiation, it is the rectification of a generational historical injustice. For over three decades an entire working life for some of our veterans, the City of Johannesburg has utterly failed its dedicated employees, beginning with the reckless and cynical decision to halt salary progression in 1995. 

This negligence was a political choice. This negligence festered for years, leading to the necessary militancy of the 2016 Pikitup strikes and the subsequent creation of the Politically Facilitated Agreement (PFA). Yet, even after a legal agreement was reached, the rot continued. 

While top officials and political principals were expediently placed on the appropriate Grade 10 salary scale, the majority of our members, the frontline heroes, were shamefully left to languish on the lower Grade 8 scale. The devastating result is an accumulated debt of R10.3 billion. 

We repeat, the R10.3 billion is not just a figure but it is the crystallised sum of human suffering. It represents decades where workers could not afford decent homes, where medical aid bills went unpaid, where the dreams of sending a child to university were crushed, and where the grinding weight of debt compromised the very dignity of an honest day's labour. 

This systemic economic violence, perpetuated by the City's negligence, forced our members to live below the poverty line, even while they maintained the essential infrastructure of South Africa's economic hub. It is a moral disgrace that the City would only move with this sense of urgency once the looming threat of international embarrassment at the G20 summit forced their hand. 

This demonstrates a deeply twisted set of priorities where international perception is valued above the basic dignity and legal rights of its own workforce. Our members were forced to resort to the most powerful tool available to them, the threat of withdrawing their essential labour simply to compel the employer to honour a contractual and legal commitment that should have been settled years ago.

It is impossible to discuss this victory without exposing the hypocrisy that seeks to tear it down. We must address the hypocritical and transparently political outrage emanating from the Democratic Alliance (DA), whose City of Johannesburg caucus leader, Belinda Echeozonjoku, denounced the settlement as a "crisis" and an act of "financial mismanagement". 

The DA's manufactured outrage is nothing short of political theatre and gross hypocrisy, exposing them as an anti-worker and fundamentally anti-black party opposed to the economic upliftment of municipal staff. 

We remind every resident that when the DA coalition governed this city, they did everything in their power to stall, deny, and frustrate justice for these very same workers, relentlessly refusing to genuinely implement the PFA. Their tenure was characterized by attempts to delay, litigate, and starve the PFA process of resources, actively contributing to the immense debt burden the current administration now faces. 

Their current crocodile tears over "financial mismanagement" ring hollow, as they were the ones whose political instability contributed directly to the paralysis that allowed this R10.3 billion debt to accumulate and fester. The DA cannot speak on behalf of the poor and demand service delivery excellence while actively fighting against the economic upliftment of the very black workers who staff our clinics, service our townships, and ensure our suburbs are habitable.

Echeozonjoku’s malicious claim that the payment is a "disgrace" while residents wait for water is a transparent and cynical attempt to weaponise service delivery issues against the workers who dedicate their lives to solving them.

The media and the opposition have focused entirely on the source of the payment, alleging a malicious "diversion" from crucial capital projects like water and roads, to accuse SAMWU of contributing to the service delivery crisis. 

This argument is fundamentally flawed and tragically hypocritical. We proclaim loudly and clearly that workers are not the problem; they are the solution. SAMWU believes with every fibre of its being that workers must be prioritised in the interest of service delivery. 

It is the hands of our members, these men and women who the DA is so quick to condemn, who fix the bursting pipes, clear the waste from the streets, and repair the damaged infrastructure. Yet, how can the City expect optimum performance, diligence, and commitment to service delivery when it simultaneously subjects these same workers to decades of underpayment and financial stagnation? 

This settlement is a declaration that the era of starvation wages and institutional neglect is over. This is not money being "thrown away" it is a capital injection into the human machinery of the City.

The City’s own official statement confirms that this settlement is based on "common job grading, external benchmarking"and is subject to the PFA’s principles of "affordability and sustainability". This agreement, by finally achieving Grade 10 parity, fundamentally changes the economic trajectory of thousands of working-class families for generations to come.

For us, this settlement is not merely back-pay; it is a key that unlocks human dignity. It means a municipal worker can finally walk into a store with their head held high. It means their children can now aspire to better schools and vocational training. It means replacing the constant stress of food insecurity with the stability of a paid-off bond or the ability to manage chronic illness. 

This investment is life-changing, it restores the fundamental faith that hard work in public service will be justly rewarded. The City is not paying a debt to a spreadsheet; it is repaying a debt to human beings, and in doing so, it restores the very foundation of efficient service delivery. 

When workers are compensated fairly and their labour stability is ensured, they are healthier, more motivated, and more effective. A municipality that fails its employees will inevitably fail its residents. By settling this debt and achieving parity, SAMWU is, in fact, laying the foundational requirement for improved employee performance and, consequently, stabilised and enhanced service delivery for the residents of Johannesburg.

The Mayor's office has stated that the payment will be funded over three years through "improved revenue management, structural efficiencies and strict expenditure controls, not through any diversion of capital funds". 

This means the City has committed to finding the money internally, a task they should have completed years ago, rather than robbing infrastructure budgets. This is the difference between a crisis created by political negligence and a solution achieved through robust negotiation. 

We, therefore, issue an urgent call to all mischievous characters to stop treating this settlement as a political casualty of the G20 and instead embrace it as a necessary investment in its most valuable asset, being its people. 

Issued by SAMWU Petrus Mashishi (Johannesburg) Region

International-Solidarity   

Nepal: Education unions unite for transformative gender justice

Equity and inclusion, 18 November 2025

Education International (EI) affiliates in Nepal came together in the capital city Kathmandu for a three-day Gender Justice Training, aimed at strengthening union capacity to promote gender equality and end gender-based discrimination in the education sector.

The event took place as part of the “Transforming Asia Pacific teachers’ unions leading Agenda 2030” Program, which is supported by EI, the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) and the Trade Union Solidarity Center of Finland (SASK).

Held from November 14th-16th, 2025, this training was attended by representatives of the Nepal Teachers’ Association (NTA), the Nepal National Teachers’ Association (NNTA), the Independent School Teachers’ Union (ISTU), and the Nepal School Employees Council (NSEC), who engaged in intensive learning, dialogue and planning sessions.

Need to advance gender-responsive unionism

The training focused on developing a shared understanding of gender injustice and how discrimination affects educators and union members, as well as examining the structural and cultural roots of inequality. The program also reviewed international frameworks, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), key International Labour Organization (ILO) standards, and instruments relevant to gender equality in education and the world of work.

Participants acquired knowledge about ILO Convention 190 and the need for union advocacy for its ratification by the Government of Nepal. Case studies illustrated the different forms of violence and harassment experienced by education workers, the impact on educators’ well-being and safety, and systemic barriers to reporting and justice. Affiliates explored strategies to integrate protection measures into social dialogue, union policy, and advocacy.

Participants reaffirmed that gender justice is not only a women’s rights issue, but a core trade union responsibility essential to building democratic, inclusive, and representative organisations. The programme encouraged stronger coordination among NTA, NNTA, ISTU and the EI Asia-Pacific (EIAP) office to advance gender-responsive unionism and promote safe, equitable schools.

Young teachers and unionists also reflected on the empowering nature of the programme. ISTU’s Bhawna Bhatta, one of the youngest participants, shared: “For young teachers and new union leader like me, this space was empowering. While we often enter unions without knowing how to shape them, I now clearly see that our voices matter to build a union culture that is safe, equal, and inclusive.”

Union gender policies and action plans: empowering change in schools and unions

At the conclusion of the training, participating unions endorsed the following initial action points, i.e., establishing:

• Union Gender Equality Policies, and
• Gender Justice Action Plans to strengthen inclusion, representation, and workplace protections.

Key priorities include strengthening women’s committees, establishing a joint women’s network with all EI affiliates in Nepal, capacity building programmes for women leaders and ensuring greater representation of women in decision-making bodies.

The programme concluded with a shared commitment to expand this work within unions, schools, and communities.

Looking ahead, EIAP Regional Director Anand Singh highlighted that realizing gender justice must be rooted not only in our core values, but also “within our organizational structures, negotiation aims, and leadership positions. This training is another step in building unions where every member—regardless of gender—can participate, lead, and shape the future of public education.”

______________________________

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

 

 

 

 

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