Taking COSATU Today Forward, 18 September 2025 #CosatuCC2025
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #Cosatu scheduled to conclude the ordinary 8th Central Committee session today #CosatuCC2025 #WorkerControl #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 September 2025
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Media Advisory: SAMWU to brief media on Tshwane's 'insulting' councillor salary increase
- COSATU 8th Central Committee Livestream
- South Africa
- COSATU rejects deal between Mswati and the US
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- WFTU speech to the Central Committee of COSATU
- Education unions celebrate Democracy Day by mobilising and organising to defend it
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
Media Advisory: SAMWU to brief media on Tshwane's 'insulting' councillor salary increase
Donald Monakisi, SAMWU Tshwane Regional Secretary, 17 September 2025
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) Tshwane Region will hold a media briefing to address the City of Tshwane’s decision to grant a 5% salary increase to councillors. This move is seen by the union as an insult to municipal workers who are still waiting for salary increases of 3.5% and 5.4% that are owed to them.
The briefing will outline SAMWU's next steps and discuss the broader implications for workers and residents in the City. Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the event which will be held as follows:
Date: Friday, 19 September 2025
Time: 10:00 AM
Venue: SAMWU House, 84 Frederick Street, Marshalltown, Johannesburg
Members of the media are encouraged to confirm their attendance with Donald Monakisi on 066 591 4548.
Issued by SAMWU Tshwane Region
Donald Monakisi, Regional Secretary: 066 591 4548
Simon Leburu, Deputy Regional Secretary: 083 672 3944
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COSATU 8th Central Committee Livestream
Day 5 (Thursday - 18 Sep)
https://youtube.com/live/gS32xH7gZBk?feature=share
COSATU rejects deal between Mswati and the US
Bongani Masuku, COSATU International Secretary, 17 September 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) supports the PUDEMO/SWAYOCO and Alliance-led march to the US embassy in Tshwane on Friday, 19 September.
We reject the deal between King Mswati and the US government to dump dangerous criminals in Eswatini endangering the entire SADC region.
COSATU joins the Swazi people and their organisations in marching to the US embassy in Tshwane to denounce the unprecedented deal between Mswati and the US government to dump hardcore criminals from the US in Swaziland, endangering the lives of the people of our sister country and the region, SADC as a whole.
This reflects the extent of the rot of the monarchy regime, which has gone to lengths to demonstrate its uncaring attitude against its own people. The systemic persecution of the people, activists in particular has become the other name of the Tinkhundla regime as we recall the experiences of Advocate Thulani Rudolf Maseko, Musa MJ Dlamini, Amos Mbedzi, Jack Govender and the mysterious conditions under which former President Mario Masuku and former Deputy President, Dr Gabriel Mkhumane died.
The Federation is in full support of the march and calls on COSATU Affiliates, other trade union federations and workers in general to mobilise and participate in the march to raise the issues facing the people of Swaziland and for the world to take decisive action against Mswati.
COSATU also calls on the international trade union movement to intensify practical solidarity with the workers and the people of Swaziland to force the Mswati regime to unban political parties, allow freedom of expression and the right to organise as per International Labour Organisation directives in relation to Convention 87 and 98 and the UN Declaration on Human Rights.
The release of all political prisoners and resumption of negotiations towards a new, just and democratic society.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
WFTU speech to the Central Committee of COSATU
by CENTRAL WFTU, 17 September 2025
The WFTU Executive Secretary, Anda Anastasaki, addressed the Central Committee of COSATU in Johannesburg on September 17th, 2025.
Dear comrades of the leadership of COSATU,
I bring you here the fraternal greetings of the World Federation of Trade Unions and our best wishes for the success of your meeting.
Congratulations on the 40 years of COSATU anniversary .
We are confident that COSATU is capable, with its experience and strength, of discussing, deciding, and acting for the benefit of the working class of South Africa and all the popular strata of your great country.
Dear brothers and sisters, the world working class and peoples are today facing great and complex problems.
Monopolies, multinationals, and the international bourgeoisie are attacking the achievements and rights of workers. The result of these anti-people policies is poverty for the many and profits for the few.
Wages and pensions are very low in all capitalist countries, at the same time as the cost of living and prices of basic goods keep rising.
Social security rights, social gains, and trade union freedoms are also under attack by governments.
All governments present numbers, statistics, and percentages to convince us that everything is going well.
Numbers may prosper, but workers do not. Workers are becoming poorer and poorer. That is the truth.
We see across all continents that governments promise every day to fight corruption, and yet corruption keeps growing.
At the same time, we live through an escalation of imperialist aggression.
The Palestinian people suffer, are murdered, are driven from the land of their ancestors. The people of Gaza have paid a very heavy blood price. Israel, with the support of NATO, the USA, and the European Union, is carrying out an unprecedented genocide against the Palestinian people.
International organizations pretend neutrality. In the Middle East, in the Sahara, in Ukraine — they claim to be neutral but they are not. They serve the imperialists.
In the European Union, the bureaucrats in its leadership do everything they can to push the world towards war. Today, the European Union is a union of war.
Faced with this situation, we have a duty to strengthen our proletarian internationalism. To strengthen international solidarity so that no one is left alone against monopolies and imperialism.
We are optimistic because you here have rich militant experience. You are a trade union organization with a great history of class struggles. You belong to the great family of the WFTU. We share a common history of long and heroic struggles. This common course can and must be strengthened and continued, so that we move forward into new struggles and new challenges.
We, in the WFTU, are committed to this shared path, just as we remain firmly committed to our historic and solid relationship with the Communist Party of South Africa.
We trust that, with your decisions, you will strengthen your class struggles for the rights of workers and, at the same time, strengthen the fight for a world without capitalist exploitation and imperialist wars.
Comrades,
Before I finish, I want to highlight a historic milestone. This year, 2025, the World Federation of Trade Unions celebrates 80 years of life and struggle.
Since 1945, the WFTU has always stood by the workers, giving voice to millions of workers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Arab world.
It was there in the struggles for independence, for freedom, for social justice. It was there when the peoples of South Africa broke the chains of apartheid. And it is here today, in the battles for decent wages, for rights, for a world without exploitation.
COSATU should be proud to belong to this great family. Because we know well that the strength of the working class does not stop at borders. When one worker is oppressed in Africa, in Palestine, in Latin America, in Europe, we all suffer the same blow. An injury to one is an injury to all!
That is why, on the 80th anniversary of the WFTU, we renew our commitment:
· To defend the rights of all workers, everywhere.
· To stand in solidarity with every people fighting for freedom.
· To continue our struggle until we build a society of justice, equality, and dignity.
Dear Comrades,
It is with great honor that I inform you that, over the past three years, trade unionists from across all continents have founded the International workers Institute.
This Institute is firmly grounded in Marxist principles and guided by a Marxist worldview. Its Executive Committee is composed of trade unionists from Cuba, Colombia, Italy, Spain, Greece, Palestine, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Africa.
Our mission is to advance trade union education through seminars, lectures, and forums for ideological and theoretical exchange. Today, the Institute has representatives in 90 countries worldwide and has already successfully organized numerous training and educational programs for workers and trade unionists.
The International workers Institute comes to your country — and to every country — with a single purpose: to strengthen class consciousness within the trade union movement and among working people. We come as true comrades, committed to deepening the struggle for socialism.
We uphold and disseminate Marxist ideology, inspired by the revolutionary legacy of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, Moses Mabhida, and Eric Stalin Mtshali.
Unlike others, who approach you under the mask of friendship while serving the interests of multinationals and monopolies that seek to plunder your nation’s wealth, we come to stand in solidarity with you.
We remain open to coordination and cooperation with all those who share this vision.
Long live the 40 years of COSATU
Long live the 80 years of the WFTU!
Long live the internationalist solidarity of workers!
AMANDLA
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Education unions celebrate Democracy Day by mobilising and organising to defend it
Democracy, 17 September 2025
Democracy is a core value of education unions around the world. On the International Day of Democracy, 15 September, education unions from Education International came together online to reaffirm their commitment to defending and advancing democracy, sharing insights into the challenges they are facing and strategising the way forward.
In a world where attacks on education, teachers, and their unions is a reality in many countries, David Edwards, Education International General Secretary, explained that “teachers and teachers’ unions are in the crosshairs of authoritarians worldwide because we teach children how to think critically, how to exercise their agency, how to work collectively, how to defend their rights. That is a threat to authoritarians who depend on a citizenry that is ignorant and compliant”.
Edwards encouraged education unionists to learn from each other and join forces to develop a common response to rising authoritarianism across the globe. “ On Education and Democracy: 25 Lessons from the Teaching Profession”, a book co-authored by Fred van Leeuwen, Education International General Secretary Emeritus, and Susan Hopgood, former Education International President, distils the historical wisdom of the profession into 25 essential principles that continue to guide teachers’ current mobilisation for democracy.
Authoritarians on the rise around the world
On Democracy Day, education unionists shared insights about the challenges they are facing at the national level and the strategies they are employing to fight back.
Warning that “widening inequalities have been fertile ground for conservatives and the far right”, Manuela Mendonça, President of FENPROF (Portugal) and member of the EI Executive Board, discussed the accelerated rise of the far right and its normalisation across Europe. In Portugal for example, the far right rose from 1% of votes to 22% in just 6 years. Mendonça stressed the need to dismantle the far-right narrative and to build broad alliances among progressive forces in society in order to turn the tide and strengthen democracy. “Educating for democracy, teaching students to be critical thinkers, empathetic, and committed to the public good, is our responsibility as educators and the best defence against extremism”, Mendonça added.
Roberto Baradel of CTERA, Argentina and also a member of EI's Executive Board, reported on the growing attacks on teachers and their unions by President Javier Milei. Academic freedom in Argentina is being undermined by politically motivated accusations of indoctrination against teachers. The government has established hotlines for complaints against teachers and has unsuccessfully brought teachers to court for speaking to students about the genocide in Gaza. Milei’s government is also attempting to take away teachers’ right to strike by defining education as an essential service. Unions are challenging this decision at the International Labour Organization. Furthermore, union leaders have faced attacks and threats on social media to which they have successfully responded in court. After years of attacks against progressive groups in the country, Milei recently suffered a serious defeat in regional elections in Buenos Aires, signalling a broad popular rejection of these policies.
In Eswatini, SNAT, the only teachers’ union in the country and one of the oldest unions in Africa, is facing a sustained campaign of harassment from the government. The union’s Secretary General, Lot Mduduzi Vilakati, described how, in a move to intimidate the union, SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini has been suspended from his teaching position since 2022. Furthermore, teachers are banned from speaking about democracy and the government systematically refuses to engage in social dialogue with the union. Parliament is currently discussing a law which would ban unions from government buildings, making it illegal to even present a petition. In his hostile climate, Vilakati highlighted the essential role of international solidarity and thanked Education International and its member organisations for their sustained support.
EI Executive Board member and American Federation of Teachers Vice-President Evelyn DeJesus presented the situation in the U.S. where Donald Trump is dismantling public education and healthcare, attacking universities, slashing food assistance for the poor, cutting international aid, and much more just to give tax breaks to billionaires. His war on immigrants and the militarisation of American cities, including Washington D.C., have thrown democracy in an unprecedented crisis. However, a democratic resistance has mobilised to oppose Trump. The AFT is part of a coalition of educators, school districts, and unions that have filed lawsuits against the administration. The union has also taken to the streets in massive marches on March 4, April 5, May 1 – Mayday, and September 1 – U.S. Labor Day. On June 14, teachers joined more than five million people to make it clear that the U.S. accepts “No Kings!”. Thanking EI member organisations for the solidarity and support, DeJesus concluded that “in a democracy, the people are the ultimate source of power, which is why the people must protect it constantly by exercising our democracy muscles”.
An example of how popular resistance was able to defeat authoritarianism came from South Korea, where teachers played a key role in defending democracy during the attempted coup d’etat in 2024. Hyunsu Hwang, International Secretary of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU), described how the union responded to this existential crisis for democracy. Immediately after former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, KTU members gathered in front of Parliament to protect law makers who were passing a bill to stop the coup d’etat. Teachers continued to take to the streets every day for months to demand the President’s impeachment. As the decision of the Constitutional Court impeaching the President was streamed live in classrooms across the country on 4 April, “the entire country became a classroom for democracy” Hwang noted.
Global mobilisation to oppose authoritarianism
Having taken stock of the situation around the world, EI member organisations discussed the way forward and worked on developing a common strategy to oppose the far right across contexts.
International solidarity emerged as an essential part of this joint strategy to defend democracy. Unions also stressed the importance of building broad-based alliances across society. Developing a vision of the future centred on democracy, inclusion, and hope as an alternative to the hate-filled far-right narrative is critical.
ETUCE President John MacGabhann reflected on democracies becoming complacent, with nominally friendly governments moving to the right in an attempt to appease far-right forces in society while ignoring the needs of ordinary people. In this context, education unions must be proactive in opposing austerity measures in education and beyond to reduce the inequality that breeds extremism. Unions must also engage with communities and ensure schools become safe sanctuaries for all.
Unions also agreed to systematically and publicly denounce authoritarian policies, engaging in mobilisations and protests to express dissent and put pressure on governments.
EI member organisations will work to give education workers the tools to rally, organise, and keep safe while fostering joy and hope as acts of resistance to authoritarianism.
Union action plan for democracy
Jelmer Evers, Director of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE), presented the key elements of a global EI action plan to defend democracy, stressing the importance of strategic, long-term planning.
EI will conduct research and mapping to inform the joint strategy, including country case studies to explore threats and effective opposition, response strategies (professional, legislative, judicial, educational, organising, alliance building), and learning from other sectors and unions.
Learning and organising will be centred around conferences, events, regional expert groups and networks, resource hubs, country guides and toolkits, and the Organising4Power model. Several conferences on academic freedom are already planned in Asia Pacific, Latin America and the United Kingdom.
Noting that attacks on working people and austerity measures are attacks on democracy, Edwards also highlighted that EI’s Go Public! Fund Education campaign is an important vector in the fight for democracy.
“Democracy is not a spectator sport, it requires full participation and engagement”, Edwards stressed. “From grassroots organising to international alliances, hope lies in collective action”, Evers concluded.
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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