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COSATU TODAY #COSATU NOB’s/CEC Members engaged with workers at train stations in Gauteng as part of mobilisation for #Cosatu40thAnniversary celebrations #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
26 November 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
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 Gauteng 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 of the union 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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COSATU scheduled to hold a post Central Executive Committee (CEC) media briefing on Thursday, 27 November 2025
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 25 November 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will hold a media briefing on Thursday, 27 November 2025, to communicate the outcomes of its final ordinary Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting for the year.
2025 marks a year in which the working class was tested on many fronts and a year in which the Federation has been able to secure critical victories for the working class.
This CEC takes place at a critical time for workers time with the G20 just having concluded, the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement tabled at Parliament and the Local Government Elections set for next year.
COSATU will be hosting its annual Charity Golf Challenge with President Cyril Ramaphosa on 4 December and its 40th anniversary celebrations on 6 December at Dobsonville Stadium.
COSATU will provide updates on these important issues and more at the briefing on Thursday.
The details of the media briefing are as follows:
•
Date : 27 November 2025
• Time : 11h00
• Venue : COSATU House, 110 Jorissen Street, Braamfontein.
All
members of the media are invited to the briefing.
Issued by COSATU
For more information please contact:
Zanele Sabela (COSATU National Spokesperson)
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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
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 observes 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign
Nonzuzo Dlamini, COSATU Communication Officer, 26 November 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) stands in solidarity with the millions of South Africans and the international community at large, in marking the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign on 25 November to 10 December.
This initiative by the United Nations commences on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against women, an annual recommitment to end the scourge of the atrocities suffered by woman at the hands of men.
The campaign comes at a historic time of a long-overdue decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa of declaring gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster. For years COSATU has been advocating for this progressive step seeing the staggering levels of the epidemic and its catastrophic impact.
This will ensure that the state expands resources and intensifies its approach in uprooting the tranches of this phenomenon.
Statistics of the harsh realities in families, communities and workplaces have reached unprecedented levels that cannot be ignored. The figures hit home for many as they are a constant reminder of personal losses of loved ones. The 2025 femicide report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women is an indication of urgent action, having recorded a staggering 83,000 women and girls killed intentionally, 60 percent at the hands of their partners or family members.
Whilst notable strides have been made in eradicating GBVF, such as the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Act and the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, COSATU hopes that the President’s recent move will propel law enforcement and other key government departments to ramp up their enforcement of our progressive gender-based violence legislation to ensure tangible results, including blocking shortcomings in the criminal justice system.
This year’s theme for the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign: “Letsema: Men, Women, Boys and Girls working together to end Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF)” also correlates with the acute need to boost conversations with boys and men, a resolution by COSATU’s Central Committee held this year to continue to mobilise, raise awareness and dialogue about gender-based violence (GBV), and to organise a summit to bring men together in a Bua-monna summit to discuss and address issues contributing to GBV.
As the international community rises, may the next 16 days bear fruit by decreasing the numbers, changing mindsets and embolden silent voices.
Issued by COSATU
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SAMWU rejects DA’s attempt to influence governance of Tshwane from the grave
Papikie Mohale, National Media Officer, 26 November 2025
The South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) notes with concern utter disgust, the desperate, anti-worker propaganda released by Democratic Alliance (DA) Tshwane Mayoral Candidate, Ald Cilliers Brink. The DA’s recent declaration is not a genuine financial plan to save the City, but rather a declaration of open war against the working class and a direct, contemptuous assault on the integrity and legally binding rulings of the collective bargaining institutions of our democracy. This latest cynical move by the DA is nothing less than a desperate, treasonous attempt to rule Tshwane from the grave, years after their catastrophic mismanagement ended.
As SAMWU, we are demanding that the City Manager, Mr. Johann Mettler, immediately reject this self-serving, legally illiterate advice from the DA and fully respect the solemn ruling of the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC). The DA's call for the City of Tshwane to defy the law and take the binding SALGBC award on judicial review is not only fiscally irresponsible but is a directive to subvert justice and continue the costly legal bloodbath that has already wasted tens of millions in public funds. Any attempt by the current administration to appeal this matter will be met with the full force of SAMWU's legal and organisational power.
The DA's pretence of concern for the city's budget rings hollow, as the current financial abyss in the City of Tshwane is the shameful and undeniable legacy of the instability, corruption, and catastrophic financial neglect that characterised the periods when the DA held political power. We remind the public that this financial crisis was, in fact, manufactured under the DA administration, when they initially denied workers both the 3.5% (2021/22) and the subsequent 5.4% (2023/24) salary increases. Their claim to champion financial health rings hollow when their own mismanagement created the budget deficits they now fraudulently use as an excuse to avoid paying workers their rightful dues.
The most pathetic hypocrisy of all is the DA’s deafening silence when the City recently voted and approved a 5% salary increase for Councillors because they and their political elite stood to benefit. Their crocodile tears for the City’s budget only flow when it is time to pay the hardworking municipal staff. This is the mindset of a party that treats the municipality not as a public servant institution, but as a monarchy with a treasure chest to be inherited.
We demand the immediate payment of workers' 3.5% salary increases as per the SALGBC award!
Issued by SAMWU Secretariat
International-Solidarity
Five essential facts to know about femicide
25 November 2025
Every 10 minutes, partners and family members killed a woman intentionally in 2024.
Gender-related killings (femicide/feminicide) are the most brutal and extreme manifestation of violence against women and girls.
The latest report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women, released on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the, shows that femicide is rising around the world. While there has been growing awareness and public outcry against these killings, much more needs to be done to prevent violence against women, stop its escalation, provide adequate services to survivors and punish perpetrators.
Femicide: definition and causes
Femicide (or feminicide, as it is referred to in some contexts) is defined as an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation. It is different from homicide, where the motivation may not be gender-related.
Femicide is driven by discrimination against women and girls, unequal power relations, gender stereotypes or harmful social norms. It is the most extreme and brutal manifestation of violence against women and girls which occurs on a continuum of multiple and related forms of violence, at home, in workplaces, schools or public and online spaces, including intimate partner violence, sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence, harmful practices and trafficking.
1. Women and girls are most likely to be killed by those closest to them
In 2024, around 50,000 women and girls worldwide were killed by their intimate partners or other family members (including fathers, mothers, uncles and brothers). This means that, on average, 137 women or girls are killed every day by someone in their own family. Current and former intimate partners are by far the most likely perpetrators of femicide, accounting for an average of 60 per cent of all intimate partner and family-related killings.
In many cases, only gender-related killings perpetrated by an intimate partner or family member are counted as femicides—yet we know that gender-related killings take place in many contexts beyond the private sphere. They can be related to rape or sexual violence by someone unknown to the victim; linked to harmful practices such as female genital mutilation or so-called honor killings; a result of hate crimes linked to sexual orientation or gender identity; or connected with armed conflict, gangs, human trafficking and other forms of organized crime.
There is growing evidence on technology being used as a mean to perpetrate stalking which is highly associated with femicide. A study shows that 3 out 4 victims of femicides were previously stalked by the perpetrator. Technology is also being used to exercise coercive control and surveillance prior to cases of femicides. In a growing number of cases, victims were killed because of their online presence, intentional or not.
Lower than the 2023 estimate of 51,100 victims, this change is not indicative of an actual decrease as it is largely due to differences in data availability at the country level. Data though indicate that the world is failing to stop deaths that could be prevented through early intervention, gender-responsive policing and justice, and access to survivor-centred support and protection.
2. Femicide is a universal problem
Femicide is a global crisis that affects women and girls in every country and territory. According to the new report, in 2024, Africa recorded the largest absolute and relative numbers of female intimate partner and family-related killings with an estimated 22,600 victims (3 victims per 100,000). The Americas and Oceania also recorded high rates of intimate partner/family-related femicide in 2024, (at 1.5 and 1.4 per 100,000 respectively), while the rates were significantly lower in Asia and Europe (at 0.7 and 0.5 per 100,000 respectively).
3. The true scale of femicide is likely much higher
While the numbers presented in the report are alarmingly high, they are the tip of the iceberg. Too many victims of femicide still go uncounted: for roughly four in ten intentional murders of women and girls, there is not enough information to identify them as gender-related killings because of national variation in criminal justice recording and investigation practices.
To know and respond to the true scale of the problem, it is critical to have comprehensive disaggregated data. To help move beyond the current limitations in data collection, UNODC and UN Women developed the statistical framework for measuring the gender-related killing of women and girls (“femicide/feminicide”), approved by the United Nations Statistical Commission in March 2022.
Behind each number, there is a woman or girl whose life has been brutally ended because of male violence, misogyny and social norms that tolerate and perpetuate violence against women and girls.
4. Some groups of women and girls face greater risk
Women in the public eye, including those in politics, women human rights defenders, and journalists are often targets of deliberate acts of violence, both online and offline, with some leading to fatal outcomes and intentional killings. One out of four women journalists globally and one in three women parliamentarians surveyed in Asia-Pacific reported having received online threats of physical violence, including death threats
Women environmental defenders were visible in their resistance in at least a quarter of all socio-environmental conflicts worldwide as of January 2022, and in 81 of those conflicts, they were killed. In 2023, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) alerted that women human rights defenders were targeted twice over, for their work and their gender, both online and offline. OHCHR documented at least 34 women human rights defenders killed in conflict-affected countries in 2022.
Despite data limitations, the available evidence from Canada and Australia suggests that indigenous women are disproportionately affected by gender related killings. At 4.3 per 100,000 women and girls, the rate of female homicide in Canada was five times higher among Indigenous than among non-Indigenous women and girls in 2021.
With violence against transgender and gender-diverse people on the rise, the Trans Murder Monitoring 2023 research data showed that 94 per cent of the 321 trans and gender-diverse people reported murdered were trans women or trans feminine people. The number gives a small glimpse into the reality and trends as the data is based on only reported cases, and not all transgender victims are identified as trans or gender diverse in the reports of their deaths.
To prevent femicide, national authorities must record comprehensive data on victims. By identifying women and girls at greater risk, countries can better inform prevention and protection mechanisms.
5. Femicide can and must be prevented
Gender-related killings and other forms of violence against women and girls are not inevitable. Often, femicide/feminicide is a culmination of repeated and escalating episodes of gender-based violence, which means it can and must be prevented if the early signs of violence are addressed effectively. Initiatives that focus on primary prevention, changing social norms, and engaging whole communities to create zero tolerance for violence against women, work best in preventing gender-related killings.
The police and justice sectors have an important role to play, by believing and supporting survivors of gender-based violence, responding to reports of violence, and punishing perpetrators to end impunity. In too many cases, victims of femicide had previously reported violence and their killings could have been prevented.
In-depth reviews of gender-related killings, involving families and communities, are a promising approach to drive reforms and improve institutional responses. By analyzing past homicides, these reviews aim to identify gaps and prevent future femicides.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Family Violence Death Review Committee analyzed 320 family violence deaths (2009-2020), revealing that 56 per cent of victims were women and girls. The findings highlighted systemic issues, such as biased case records, and inadequate responsiveness of agencies when dealing with Māori, women, children, and people with disabilities. To address this, the committee recommended adopting methods used by Kaupapa Māori organizations. This more respectful approach focuses on well-being, training for service providers to create more responsive systems, and family-focused interventions. More research is required to better understand what is driving increased femicide in certain contexts, and what factors have enabled decreases in others to better inform prevention strategies.
But what we do know, is that women’s rights organizations play a crucial role in preventing violence against women and girls, by driving policy change, holding governments to account, and providing critical survivor-centered services.
Strengthening financial support to women’s rights organizations is critical in reducing and preventing gender-related killings and all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls.
#NoExcuse: Take action to stop violence against women
End impunity by holding perpetrators accountable and establishing zero tolerance of violence against women and girls.
Adopt, implement and fund National Action Plans to end violence against women and girls.
Invest in prevention and women’s rights organizations to ensure rights and access to essential services for survivors.
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South Africa’s G20 Women’s Shutdown – a turning point for ending gender-based violence and femicide?
25 November 2025
On 21 November, just days before the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, South African women brought their country to a standstill with a powerful message: declare gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster.
At the Union Buildings lawns in Pretoria, the seat of government, thousands of protesters dressed in black with touches of purple began gathering in the morning of 21 November. Their voices rose in traditional songs of struggle – "Senzeni na?" (What have we done to deserve this?) and "Zizaw'ujik'izinto" (Things will change) – before culminating in a powerful moment at midday, when protesters lay on the ground in silence, honouring the memory of women that are killed every day in South Africa, according to data cited by the national nonprofit organization, Women for Change.
G20 Women’s Shutdown: Over one million signatures push government to act on gender-based violence and femicide. The Government of South Africa declares gender-based violence a national disaster Global South presidencies drive new momentum for gender equality at the G20. Leaders at G20 call for the engagement of men and boys in ending gender-based violence. From commitments to action: A new generation demands extraordinary action during 16 Days of Activism
Protesters observe 15 minutes of silence at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 21 November 2024, lying on the ground to honour the 15 women killed daily in South Africa.
G20 Women’s Shutdown: Over one million signatures push government to act on gender-based violence and femicide
The timing was deliberate. As world leaders converged in Johannesburg for the G20 Summit, led by Women for Change, protesters seized the global spotlight to demand urgent action on a crisis that claims women's and girls’ lives with devastating regularity. The protest, dubbed ‘the G20 Women's Shutdown’, called for women to stay home from work, refrain from spending money, observe 15 minutes of silence to honour the memory of victims of femicide, and make their demands impossible to ignore. The movement's purple-themed social media campaign echoed far beyond South Africa's borders, with supporters worldwide changing their profile pictures in solidarity.
"I came here not only because I've got people that I know who have been victims of femicide and gender-based violence, but because this is a crisis. We see women dying every day and we need our voices to be heard", said 28-year-old Lebogang Ntsia, standing among thousands at the Union Buildings. "Just as women many years ago protested here (against apartheid laws) and showed up for the changes that we are privileged to experience today, we also need to be the generation that steps up."
The statistics paint a grim picture. The First South African National Gender-based Violence Study, released in 2024 and co-supported by UN Women, revealed that more than 1 in 3 women – 35.8 per cent of South African women – have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. The protest's impact rippled nationwide as educational institutions observed the 15-minute silence, some major retailers paused operations, and the coordinated action caught global headlines.
The Government of South Africa declares gender-based violence a national disaster
Responding to the outcry amplified by over one million petition signatures, the Government has declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster – a move that will unlock additional resources and policy focus, ensuring the issue receives urgent attention it demands.
Speaking at the G20 Social Summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa said, “We have agreed, among all social partners, that we need to take extraordinary and concerted action – using every means at our disposal – to end this crisis”. Ramaphosa also emphasized that men and boys must actively challenge the attitudes and structures that normalize violence against women and girls.
UN Women Representative in South Africa Aleta Miller highlighted the human cost of the crisis: "They are mothers, daughters, sisters, friends – whose lives have been cut short or forever changed. Ending gender-based violence and femicide requires nothing less than a comprehensive, all-of-society approach."
Lebogang Ntsia (right) joins thousands at the Union Buildings in Pretoria to demand an end to gender-based violence, standing in solidarity with loved ones who have experienced GBV and femicide.
Global South presidencies drive new momentum for gender equality at the G20
The protest occurred as three consecutive G20 presidencies from the Global South – India (2023), Brazil (2024), and South Africa (2025) – have brought fresh momentum to the forum's gender equality agenda, each building on the other's work to advance women's economic empowerment and safety.
India's 2023 presidency marked a watershed moment by reframing the narrative from 'women's empowerment' to 'women-led development,' creating the Women's Empowerment Working Group and elevating gender equality from engagement groups to formal G20 architecture. Brazil's 2024 presidency moved this vision into action by hosting the first-ever meeting of the Working Group and positioning the care economy at the heart of its agenda.
South Africa's 2025 presidency, themed ‘Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability’, arrived at a critical moment: five years before the 2030 deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that put women’s equal rights and opportunities at the heart of meaningful progress for the planet and people. The presidency secured unprecedented African Union participation and expanded the agenda to include health equity, land rights, and agriculture, alongside existing priorities. The Women’s Empowerment Working Group, supported by UN Women, also focused on ending gender-based violence and femicide.
Yet significant gaps persist: most G20 countries remain far from achieving the 25 per cent reduction in labour force participation gaps between men and women; climate finance continues to bypass women, with only 1.7 per cent reaching small-scale producers in developing countries. And, no country in the world has eradicated violence against women and girls.
Delegates engage in the 4th Empowerment of Women Working Group Technical Meeting in October 2025.
Leaders at G20 call for the engagement of men and boys in ending gender-based violence
As G20 Ministers gathered in Johannesburg, they recognized that addressing gender-based violence requires confronting its root causes.
The G20 Ministerial Dialogue on Positive Masculinities, held in October, brought together religious and traditional leaders, government officials, and civil society to discuss ways to address harmful social norms that fuel violence against women and girls. Deputy Minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike told the assembly that "patriarchy is a human crisis, not merely a women's issue."
"Across countries, physical spaces or online contexts, the dominance of patriarchal masculinities is a common thread underlying the perpetration of gender-based violence," said Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa at the G20 Ministerial Meeting. "Achieving gender equality requires the full engagement of all segments of society, including men and boys as strategic partners and advocates for change."
Central to the G20's recommendations was engaging men and boys as active agents of change in promoting positive masculinities. Ministers also emphasized that transforming harmful gender norms requires strengthening accountability mechanisms across all sectors, from religious institutions to judicial systems.
Demonstrators gathered in their numbers at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, one of many locations, during the nationwide protest against gender-based violence and femicide as South Africa demands urgent action to address the crisis.
From commitments to action: A new generation demands extraordinary action during 16 Days of Activism
Since the 2018 Total Shutdown march, when women marched to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange demanding change, South Africa has developed comprehensive frameworks to address the crisis. The government launched the National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence and Femicide, dedicating approximately R21 billion (about USD 1.2 billion). New legislation includes the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill, signed into law in May 2024.
As South Africa enters the 16 Days of Activism, the 21 November protests have set a powerful precedent, demonstrating that a new generation refuses to accept violence against women as inevitable, demanding that extraordinary measures match the extraordinary scale of the crisis.
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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