Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 10 February 2025
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #Cosatu holds Provincial Gender Conferences/Provincial Congress from this week #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
10 February 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU will present its submission on the Immigration Amendment Bill to Parliament, Tuesday 11 February 2025
- South Africa
- Minister Nomakhosazana Meth announces graduate internship programme for inspectors and enforcement
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- International Relations and Cooperation on USA Executive Order
- Global brands urged to support fair wages for Cambodian garment workers
- The WFTU strongly condemns Trump’s statements on the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU will present its submission on the Immigration Amendment Bill to Parliament, Tuesday 11 February 2025
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 10 February 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will present its submission on the Immigration Amendment Bill to the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee: Home Affairs from 10h00 Tuesday 11 February 2025 (virtual).
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks(Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: mat...@cosatu.org.za
Minister Nomakhosazana Meth announces graduate internship programme for inspectors and enforcement
10 Feb 2025
The Department of Employment and Labour has introduced a massive enforcement internship programme set to recruit a total of 20,000 Inspector and Enforcement Interns over the next two years.
During her first 100 days in office, Minister Nomakhosazana Meth committed to strengthen the capacity of the Inspection and Enforcement by increasing the number of Inspectors from 2000 to 20 000, as one of the key priorities. The Minister has since delivered on her promise that she made during that period.
The ground-breaking Graduate Internship Programme will bring onboard 10 000 interns annually, recruited across all nine provinces, thereby boosting the department’s capacity to promote fair labour practice nationwide.
An official advertisement for the first cohort has been published in the Department of Public Services and Administration, DPSA Vacancy Circular 5 of 2025, and all qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their applications in accordance with the advert, before the closing date of 21 February 2025.
“We are committed to strengthening workplace compliance and ensuring that every South African enjoys a fair, safe, and healthy work environment,” says Minister Meth. “Expanding our inspectorate will help us enforce labour laws more effectively, safeguard workers’ rights, and improve compliance across multiple sectors.”
Why This Programme Matters
Expanded Compliance Efforts: There has been an increase in instances of non- compliance with labour legislation, including underpayment of wages and inadequate health and safety measures. More inspectors will help identify and address these issues promptly.
Youth Employment and Skills Development: Thousands of young graduates will benefit from practical on-the-job experience, which helps tackle youth unemployment and promotes economic upliftment in local communities.
Nationwide Impact: Greater visibility of inspectors will encourage compliance in the labour market, reduce infractions, and enhance the quality of work environments across the country.
The Department of Employment and Labour encourages all employers to embrace a spirit of collaboration and accountability. Employers uncertain about their compliance status are welcome to engage with the Department’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES).
Minister Meth reiterates: “Strengthening our labour inspectorate is vital for protecting workers’ rights and ensuring that the protections provided by law are upheld on the ground. The Department stands ready to support employers in meeting these obligations, ultimately benefiting workers, businesses, and the nation as a whole.”
Enquiries:
Ms. Thobeka Magcai
Ministry Spokesperson
Email: Thobeka...@Labour.gov.za
Cell: 072 737 2205
#GovZAUpdates
#ServiceDeliveryZA
Issued by Department of Employment and Labour
International-Solidarity
International Relations and Cooperation on USA Executive Order
08 Feb 2025
Government of South Africa notes the USA Executive Order
The government of South Africa has taken note of the latest executive order issued by President Trump. It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognize South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid.
We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation. It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America.
It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship.
We reiterate that South Africa remains committed to finding diplomatic solutions to any misunderstandings or disputes.
#GovZAUpdates
Issued by Department of International Relations and Cooperation
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Global brands urged to support fair wages for Cambodian garment workers
10 February, 2025
IndustriALL Global Union is calling on brands and retailers sourcing from Cambodia to sign the Agreement to Support Collectively Bargained Wages in the Garment, Textile, Footwear and Travel Goods Industry in Cambodia, in a bid to improve wages and working conditions for the country’s garment workers.
In order to ensure fair wages and a sustainable supply chain, IndustriALL is signing individual agreements with brands sourcing
from Cambodia. The agreement (Agreement to Support Collectively Bargained Wages in the Garment, Textile, Footwear and Travel Goods Industry in Cambodia) outlines how brands and retailers will support the implementation of collective bargaining agreements at
factory level which in turn improves wages and working conditions for workers, strengthen industrial relations, establishes a functioning dispute resolution mechanism and foster skills development.
Highlighting the urgent need for collective action to ensure fair wages and a sustainable supply chain, IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie says:
“Low wages remain a systemic challenge in the garment industry, exacerbated by competitive pressures. No single brand or actor can address this alone. A sustainable and effective wage strategy must involve all stakeholders - brands, employers and workers.”
The agreement is part of the ACT programme in Cambodia,
enabling brands to engage meaningfully with unions, manufacturers and fellow retailers, setting a new industry standard for stable, predictable and responsible supply chains.
By signing the agreement, brands commit to an industrial relations model that balances the priorities of workers, manufacturers and retailers alike. The initiative also aligns with due diligence requirements on stakeholder engagement, wages, and freedom of
association (FOA), ensuring a transparent and responsible approach to sourcing practices.
The agreement, which has already been signed by leading brands like H&M Group, Primark and PVH, provides a structured framework to support the implementation of factory-level collective bargaining agreements.
“We urge more global brands sourcing from Cambodia to follow the lead of their industry peers and commit to binding agreements that support collective bargaining and wage improvements in the country,”
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The WFTU strongly condemns Trump’s statements on the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza
05 Feb 2025 by CENTRAL WFTU
The World Federation of Trade Unions strongly denounces and condemns Trump’s statements on the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. This statement constitutes a continuation of the longstanding and consistent US A’s stance and support for the murderous state of Israel and its plans.
Trump reaffirms, in unprecedented cynicism, the USA’s full support of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.
The workers of the whole world, the hundreds of class unions rallying in the WFTU reaffirm their unshakeable solidarity with the heroic people of Palestine and their right to live in freedom in their own homeland, in the land that they were born.
The international class-oriented trade union movement will intensify its struggle for an immediate end to the barbaric Israeli occupation and settlements and for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, as provided for in the UN resolutions.
Only in this way peace and security could be secured and consolidated, and human rights could be respected in the region.
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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