Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 22 September 2025
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #Cosatu40Anniversary loading…. #Cosatu@40 #WorkerControl #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
22 September 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- SAMWU gearing up for protected strike action in Uthukela District Municipality
- South Africa
- SACP response to allegations of tax debt owed to SARS
- SACP on COSATU Eighth Central Committee Meeting
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- BOFEPUSU solidarity statement to Cosatu Central Committee convening in Benoni, South Africa from 15 – 18 September 2025
- WFTU speech to the Central Committee of COSATU
- Bolivarian Socialist Central Union of Urban, Rural, and Fishing Workers of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
SAMWU gearing up for protected strike action in Uthukela District Municipality
Jabulisile Mokoena, SAMWU Regional Secretary, 19 September 2025
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) will be embarking on a protected strike action in uThukela District Municipality, beginning in October 2025. This decision follows repeated unsuccessful attempts to address critical worker-related issues with the municipality’s management.
Since December 2022, SAMWU has engaged in industrial action including 1st and 8th of August 2025 to formally register our demands. However, management has consistently shown a dismissive and uncooperative attitude, even refusing to receive our memorandum of demands. Despite our persistent efforts to mediate the dispute, this impasse has continued, with senior management undermining bargaining agreements and municipal operations.
A dispute of mutual interest was declared with the Bargaining Council, which ruled on the 3rd of July 2025 in SAMWU’s favor, granting us picketing rights. We have since held briefings with our members and are now finalizing preparations for a legal strike. As part of this action, we will organize a march to hand over a memorandum to the Portfolio Chairperson for KZN CoGTA, the Speaker of the uThukela District Council, and the MEC for CoGTA.
We hope for a more cooperative response this time, given they previously ignored our invitations.
We embarked on a picket on 8 August 2025 and demanded decisive action within seven days, SAMWU is now mobilizing its members and the wider community to protect what little remains of the municipality. The culture of impunity must end, not only for the sake of workers but also for the residents who depend on these institutions for basic services. The crisis is no longer merely administrative; it is political, structural, and moral. It demands bold leadership and honest accountability.
We are aware of attempts by Municipal Manager Mr. L Jili and Cooperate Services General Manager Mr. OS Mnguni to instil fear and divisions among workers, but no amount of intimidation will deter SAMWU’s commitment to reclaim and defend bargaining rights.
SAMWU is deeply concerned by the termination of Section 139 (1) (B) intervention in the UThukela District Municipality. This intervention failed to address the root causes of the dysfuction, such as weak governance and financial crisis. Its termination raises serious questions about whether the municipality is truly on a path to sustainable recovery, or if it is now headed for a total collapse.
There has been a lack of transparent reporting from the provincial government, particularly from the KwaZulu Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional affairs (CoGTA) department, regarding the interventions progress and outcomes. This lack of accountability leads us to believe that the MEC for CoGTA, rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi, is simply playing a political game. We believe he is attempting to protect the interest of his political party, the IFP, by positioning it as a capable administrator of good governance as we approach local government elections.
It is public knowledge that the uThukela District Municipality has been operating with an unfunded budget for years and owes service providers nearly R1 billion in debt. It is no secret that the municipality has literally collapsed under IFP’s regime, with the provincial government consistently showing a lack of political will to address deep rooted issues.
Compounding this crisis is the reported decline in revenue collection, which has plummeted from 60% to an unsustainable 40%. This collapse, driven by poor service delivery, has eroded public trust and led residents to withhold payments. Insufficient revenue has strained operational budgets, leading to the misuse of capital grants for salaries instead of their intended infrastructure projects.
The rampant looting of public funds through nepotism and corruption has also contributed significantly to this loss of revenue. Instead of implementing corrective measures, the provincial government has terminated the Section 139 (1) (B) intervention without any assistance to help the municipality recover on its own. Recent press reports in relation to forensic investigations by SD Moloi and Associates alleges irregular procurement of security services for bodyguards, allegedly implicating the executive mayor, the Speaker, and other senior officials.
The municipality has failed to recoup public funds amounting to over R10 million spent on irregular security contracts, the question that arises from the union is what corrective and or disciplinary steps were taken in line with the recommendations of the forensic report, what actions have been initiated in terms of Section 32 of the MFMA to recoup unauthorized, irregular, or wasteful expenditure from the responsible officials or office bearers, has the matter been referred to law enforcement agencies, including the Special Investigating Unit?
Residents across the district are suffering from prolonged water shortages and endless sewer spillages, which have become a common occurrence. Despite all its failures, the municipality has been taken out of administration. We believe that the CoGTA department has simply allowed the municipality to descend into chaos, with no consequence management to hold individuals accountable.
To address this, we are launching a campaign to demand the removal of Municipal Manager Mr. Langelihle Jili, Cooperate Services General Manager Mr. Oxford Mnguni and Water Sanitation and Technical services General Manager Mr. Xolani Mthembu. We also demand the rescission of terminating the intervention.
We will mobilize all relevant stakeholders, including:
- COSATU affiliates
- Ratepayers Associations
- The business sector
- Community-based organizations
- Student organisations
- Traditional leaders
As a revolutionary trade union, we are prepared to hold the bull by its horns. Enough is enough.
END.
Issued by: SAMWU
SACP response to allegations of tax debt owed to SARS
Mbulelo Mandlana, SACP Head of Media, Communications and Information, 20 September 2025
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has taken notice of certain public claims made by certain news outlets regarding General Secretary Comrade Solly Mapaila and an alleged debt he owes to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). This statement serves as our response to this developing story.
There is an ongoing engagement between Comrade Solly Mapaila and SARS regarding tax matters pertaining to the taxpayer (Comrade Mapaila). As is customary, the taxpayer, Comrade Mapaila, submitted his tax returns in 2021. The engagement relates to SARS’s reassessment of the taxpayer’s 2021 tax returns in 2022. The continued dialogue between the taxpayer and SARS commenced in 2022 and pertains to an erroneous capture following a reassessment by SARS of Comrade Mapaila’s tax returns. This error has resulted in the appearance of a debt that is being disputed and, therefore, subject to correction through mutual discussion.
It is important to note that the nature of this tax issue is a matter between the taxpayer and the tax authority, and no other entity is involved. The fact that this personal tax matter involving Mapaila has now been made public is a cause for concern.
The SACP views this matter as a tax matter between a taxpayer and the national tax authority and does not consider it a political matter. As such, the SACP does not allege any political interference by any political role player and will address it strictly as a tax matter.
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID
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SACP on COSATU Eighth Central Committee Meeting
Mbulelo Mandlana, SACP Head of Media, Communications and Information, 18 September 2025
The South African Communist Party (SACP) extends its message of congratulations to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) for the successful convening of its eighth Central Committee Meeting from 15 – 18 September 2025.
The COSATU Central Committee was convened amidst a national economy where the prospects of the working class have become increasingly unfavourable. The cohesion of the working class has been compromised by an organising environment characterised by factionalism, internal competition among trade unions that undermine the consolidation of sectors, and ideological weaknesses exacerbated by the interference of employers in working-class affairs. The cohesion of the working class has also been compromised by the changing workplace environment leading to fracturing. However, COSATU is waging visible struggles to unite the working class and advance its struggles, an effort the SACP views as important and worthy of support by all progressive forces.
The SACP commends COSATU for maintaining its robust organisational capabilities despite the economic challenges faced by the working class, which manifest primarily in the precariousness of work, the rise of unemployment, and heightened vulnerability of the working class.
The success of this Central Committee serves as a testament to the increasing strength of the trade union movement in South Africa and underscores the paramount importance of a collective struggle to defend the working class and its organisations, even in the face of the capitalist crisis.
As the SACP, we affirm the continued relevance and absolute necessity of a strong working-class axis within the Tripartite Alliance to advance and deepen the radical character of the shared National Democratic Revolution.
Furthermore, we take great pride in the revolutionary resolutions adopted by the Central Committee, which indicate, among other things, COSATU’s unwavering and unchanging allegiance to a socialist program and a socialist future for the Republic of South Africa. Additionally, it underscores COSATU’s commitment to working-class internationalism rooted in socialist principles.
The COSATU Central Committee’s affirmation of the Alliance aligns with the perspective of the SACP and serves as a foundation for continued cooperation on key strategic transformation matters.
The SACP firmly believes that the COSATU Central Committee has effectively demonstrated that our revolution will endure and continue its struggle for a better future.
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID
International-Solidarity
BOFEPUSU solidarity statement to Cosatu Central Committee convening in Benoni, South Africa from 15 – 18 September 2025
Benoni, South Africa – 17 September 2025
Cde President, and fellow leadership, the Central Committee, allow me to stand on the protocol that as noted and observed. I commence by asserting profound greetings from the Federation President Cde Gotlamang Oitsile, his Central Executive Committee and affiliates. I offer apologies on behalf of Secretary General Cde Robert Rabasimane who was supposed to be in our midst but is handling protracted salary negotiations back home. He has thus, delegated my office to deliver this solidarity remarks.
I address this Central Committee on behalf of the toiling masses of Botswana organized under BOOFEPUSU. It is indeed befitting for BOFEPUSU to grasp this auspicious opportunity to pay tribute to the COSATU for its historical gains in protecting the interests of South African working class and the poor. This unrelenting disposition you espouse has not only led to your liberty but has provided a profound benchmark and inspiration for similar organizations in the region.
We affirm our solidarity with you, comrades, as you traverse this journey of liberating workers, in the face of rising austerity measures, neo-colonial and imperialist hostilities, illicit international relations policies of world superpowers. The instabilities posed by the changing global economic environment and emerging models of work are an immediate call for action. As we refine ideas and mobilize strategies, we appreciate the centrality of the subject for this convocation – of uniting the working class for economic liberty – which is the basis for working class solidarity!
Comrade President, Botswana and South Africa, share a pleasant history of macro-economic stability and growth. These has, over the years, propelled some acceptable levels of development for both countries. However, the fruits and benefit of economic growth have not been equally shared and equitably enjoyed by all. The unpleasantries of rising gendered inequalities and pay disparities have rendered secondary tribulations such as unstable livelihoods, breaking families, gender-based violations and other psycho-social detriment to the wellbeing of our societies.
The shrinking employment sector has exacerbated informality and precarity and the informal sector is growing miserably. Poverty levels are rising. The endemic corruption and economic crime constantly place the efficiency of governments in dire paralysis. The institutions are collapsing. Coffers are depleting at an alarming rate. Numbers of unemployed and underemployed youth are skyrocketing. With the advent of privatization, employment continues to shrink. Conventional work is disintegrated by climate and technological changes where workers are alienated from the traditional workplace. These challenges continue to besiege our countries’ socio-economic wellbeing in a uniform fashion. They undermine the ends of collective bargaining power of workers and disarms workers of their collective power. Amidst these miseries, the state continues to succumb to pressures of global capital and its agents. The capacity of the state is increasingly marginalized and inner-state polarity has become a potent threat for our collective
action.
But Comrade President, in your meticulously presented opening remarks, you echoed Vladmir Lenin’s philosophical question on “what has to be done!” We do not seek to offer solutions, as it is the duty of Central Committee delegates here gathered to democratically dissect this question and resolve it. For, us the answer to the posed question is also a philosophical one, located in revolutionary literature. It sits at the core of the work of former USSR military strategist and
philosopher, Leon Trotsky – where he emphatically professed the imperative of international working-class solidarity in confrontation of these contradictions.
Comrade President, we believe that just as the express cross-border capital propelled by neoliberal institutions continues to grow, the international working-class solidarity movement should also rise. We have to embrace the changing dynamics of internationalism to adopt newer decentralized, vertical and democratic approaches that address real workplace and socioeconomic contradictions of our countries. We should rise beyond the confines of traditional internationalism, that merely focused on the horizontal state to state relations between national union organizations and lobbying inter-state organs.
It is our believe that unfair labour standards in any country pose cyclically related problems in another. As patriots flee their countries, in search for better living conditions, it breeds brain-drain and other related contradictions. In embracing migrant labour from neighboring countries, we should facilitate their immediate organization as there’s a tendency to exploit them. The exploitation of migrant labour is not only atrocious to their dignity and wellbeing but it thumb presses the scales of the minimum wage in host countries. This phenomenon should be prioritized and addressed by the solidarity movement to ensure that all workers regardless of origin, are protected from the ruins of capitalist exploitation.
In closing, Comrade President, I assure you that BOFEPUSU appreciates your work, in promoting global labour standards, international cooperation, organizing and participating in cross border solidarity action. These efforts will go a long way in propelling support for the working class and suppressed communities in different countries. We will continue to support the unrelenting struggles of our people; to build and to foster stronger international ties; to build a strong ideological and operational foundation for the global solidarity movement to rise; to share knowledge, experiences and benchmarks on how best to purge the scourge of capitalist exploitation.
In working class solidarity
Cde Keaoleboga Dipogiso
Social Dialogue Specialist – BOFEPUSU
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WFTU speech to the Central Committee of COSATU
BY CENTRAL WFTU, 17 SEP 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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Bolivarian Socialist Central Union of Urban, Rural, and Fishing Workers of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
International Coordination
Caracas, Venezuela www.cbolivariana.org.ve Redes Sociales: @cbolivariana Contacto: +584244631017
Mail: intern...@cbolivariana.com internac...@gmail.com
FI14092025GG
Caraca, September 14, 2025
Please accept a warm, affectionate, and combative greeting of solidarity and
revolutionary spirit from the National Directorate of the CBST-CCP, on behalf of all our affiliated organizations and our workers throughout the Homeland of Bolívar and
Chávez.
WORKERS OF THE WORLD, PEOPLES IN STRUGGLE!
A cry of alert and solidarity must resound throughout the world. From Venezuela, land of freedom and resistance, we raise our voices to denounce the new and dangerous phase of imperialist aggression that seeks to subdue our sovereignty and seize our wealth.
US imperialism, in its voracious greed, has intensified its criminal offensive against our people and their legitimate government, led by Nicolás Maduro.
They attack the working-class president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for this reason: for being a humble worker, who lives alongside the people, alongside the most oppressed, who fights against the economic war imposed on us by the empire, who bravely confronts the bloc and the unilateral measures against our country and our main industry, because that is what our natural resources want. In Venezuela, the working class has come to power, and it is the power of the people governing in resistance.
Imperialism doesn't allow workers to govern, or ordinary people to govern, or Nicolas Maduro to be anything other than an oligarch, a businessman, or a member of a wealthy caste. That's what they demand. Nicolas Maduro is an example of resilience and courage, and that is why he has the support of the Venezuelan people and working class.
We denounce the grotesque farce of "drug trafficking": The empire, with its
intelligence agencies, has fabricated the lie of the "Cartel of the Suns." It's fake news, a crude fabrication! They don't present a single piece of evidence, only the bought testimony of mercenaries. This hoax only seeks to justify to the world its policy of economic blockade, financial asphyxiation, and covert military aggression, criminalizing our Revolution.
We warn against the deployment of nuclear weapons in the Caribbean: In an extreme act of provocation and a grave threat to world peace, the empire has begun to move its nuclear arsenal toward our region. They're playing with fire! This escalation of war puts not only Venezuela at risk, but all of humanity. It's an attempt to intimidate us into submission, but no one here gives up!
We expose the supposed "war on drugs": Beneath this hypocritical mask, what they're really doing is monitoring our coasts, preparing invasion scenarios, and protecting the drug trafficking routes their allies in the region do control. Their military aggression is a business and a stage for their illegitimate interventionist aims. US missile destroyer attacks Caribbean tuna fishermen The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces that this Friday, September 12, the Venezuelan vessel "Carmen Rosa", crewed by nine humble tuna fishermen, sailing 48 nautical miles northeast of La Blanquilla Island, in waters belonging to the Venezuelan Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), was illegally and hostilely assaulted by a United States Navy destroyer, the USS "Jason Dunham" (DDG-109), equipped with powerful cruise missiles and crewed by highly trained marines.
The warship deployed eighteen troops with long weapons who boarded and occupied the small and harmless vessel for eight hours, preventing communication and the normal development of the fishermen who were carrying out authorized tuna fishing, in an operation that lacks any strategic proportionality and constitutes a direct provocation through the illegal use of exaggerated military means.
The incident reflects the shameful conduct of political sectors in Washington, which irresponsibly commit extremely expensive military resources and trained soldiers as instruments to fabricate pretexts for military adventures, also attacking their own military prestige and honor by carrying out this grotesque and excessive maneuver.
Our country reaffirms its commitment to peace and will continue to defend its
sovereignty and the security of its waters against any provocation.
Faced with this grave situation, the Venezuelan people, their Bolivarian National Armed Forces, and their organized working class will not back down. We call for the active solidarity of the international unions, labor federations, and popular movements. Do not abandon us to the voracity of the empire!
CALL FOR MOBILIZATION AND VOLUNTARY MILITARY ENLISTMENT!
In response to these threats, and in exercise of our legitimate right to defense, the Venezuelan working class, together with the entire people, is mobilizing. We call on all working men and women, the combatant youth, and all patriotic people.
The FANB barracks and the Enlistment and Call-up Points installed throughout the country.
Objective: To massively strengthen the Working Class Combat Corps, the Bolivarian Militias, and the Military Reserve, preparing us to defend the Homeland in any scenario.
Let the cries of the workers join those of the patriotic soldiers!
Let the factories become trenches of production and defense!
Chávez said it: "Peace is defended with sovereignty, and sovereignty with an armed people"!
Internationalist Solidarity with Venezuela! They Shall Not Pass! We Shall Win!
The stability of the region is in danger. Latin America and the Caribbean are being threatened today. We are a people of peace! But no one will take away our freedom and self-determination.
Let's continue building a different world together!
Long live freedom, long live sovereignty, NO TO WAR!
Wils Rangel
Presidente
Carlos López
Coordinador General
Gerdul Gutiérrez
Coordinador Internacional
______________________________
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