Taking COSATU Today Forward, 10 November 2025 #Cosatu@40 #Cosatu40thAnniversary

[Norman Mampane]

 

COSATU TODAY #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

10 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!

• NUM and SACP led a Joint March against Eskom’s  Privatisation, and Electricity Tariff Hikes

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

• South Africa
• COSATU MTBPS Expectations Statement
• International-Workers’ Solidarity!
• ITUC welcomes Stiglitz-led G20 report calling for a permanent global body on inequality

Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics  

NUM and SACP led a Joint March against Eskom’s  Privatisation, and Electricity Tariff Hikes

Mlondolozi Limaphi, NUM Western Cape Regional Secretary, 05 November 2025

 

CAPE TOWN – The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Western Cape Region and the South African Communist Party (SACP) embarked on a joint protest march to the offices of Eskom and the Department of Employment and Labour on Saturday, 8 November 2025.

This action was a direct and forceful offensive against key socio-economic issues impacting the working class and the poor.

The march specifically targeted the following:

•            The Privatisation and Unbundling of Eskom: The NUM and SACP vehemently oppose the liberalisation of the energy sector, which they argue serves private capital at the expense of the working class and broader society.

•            Wage Stagnation and Exploitation: Protesting the continued exploitation of workers,

•            Punitive Electricity Tariff Hikes: Demanding an end to steep electricity tariff increases that disproportionately punish the poor and marginalised communities.

•            Delayed Wage Agreements: Calling for an immediate end to the constant delays in the signing of crucial sectoral wage agreements by the Minister of Employment & Labour.

The march was led by NUM President, Phillip Vilakazi and SACP General Secretary, Solly Mapaila.

____________________

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: Mike Shingange, COSATU 1st Deputy President

Province: Gauteng
Date: 21 November

Topic: COSATU and the Mass Democratic Movement 

Main Speaker: Zingiswa Losi, COSATU President 

 

Issued by COSATU

South Africa

COSATU MTBPS Expectations Statement

Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 07 November 2025

Workers have a vested stake in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement to be tabled at Parliament on 12 November by the Minister for Finance, Enoch Godongwana. 

COSATU urges government to table a bold MTBPS signaling a progressive shift away from the devastating austerity budget cuts that have badly weakened public and municipal services, to rebuilding State-Owned Enterprises key to enabling economic growth, to stimulating an economy stuck at 1% growth, to providing a path to employment for 12 million unemployed and relief for the poor. 

Critically it must provide the South African Revenue Service (SARS) the resources needed to collect the taxes the state requires to fulfil its constitutional mandates.

All too often the naïve champions of neo-liberalism miss the point of the Budget, treating it as a number crunching exercise, forgetting that the Budget is the state’s most important tool to addressing society’s deeply entrenched socio-economic challenges, spurring economic growth and creating a better life for all. 

The Budget must respond to society’s dire faultlines of weak economic growth, a rising 42.9% unemployment rate, and entrenched levels of poverty, inequality, crime and corruption. 

The MTBPS must give society confidence that we are turning the corner on the decade of state capture and corruption, that the obstacles to economic growth are being removed and the calamity of unemployment will recede.

The MTBPS must provide a comprehensive report on how far government has moved towards delivering upon the Budget’s commitments to rebuilding frontline public and municipal services, in particular filling critical vacancies, e.g. doctors, nurses, teachers, police and other essential personnel.

The state cannot deliver quality services society depends upon unless it has the skilled personnel required to provide them.

The MTBPS needs to provide clear interventions to rebuild our increasingly dysfunctional municipalities.This needs to include a much more decisive approach by government towards errant municipalities who fail to pay workers and pension funds, maintain infrastructure or provide basic services. 

We must commend the green shoots we are witnessing under President Cyril Ramaphosa and African National Congress led government to stabilise and rebuild our SOEs. Eskom has turned the page on loadshedding but requires more support to tackle corruption, non-payments, cable theft and vandalism. These are key to ending Eskom’s unsustainable dependence on unaffordable tariff hikes. 

Progress is being made to return Transnet and Metro Rail to full capacity, easing pressure on the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors as well as providing commuters more affordable transport to work. Support must be given to other embattled SOEs, in particular DENEL, the Post Office and Postbank.

Government needs to provide law enforcement the tools needed to win the war against crime and corruption. The South African Police Service requires more personnel, working vehicles and massive investments in its IT, forensics and communications capabilities.

Our courts must be modernised. Drastic intervention is needed to turn the National Prosecuting Authority around to ensure those who break the law, face justice.

Positive signs are being seen with government’s bold R1 trillion infrastructure investments. 

More must be done to ensure funds are spent correctly, timeously and supporting local businesses, workers and goods.  A new mass industrial and SMME financing package of at least R200 billion per annum is needed mobilising every possible resource from the state, the developmental finance institutions and private banks and investment funds.

The economy cannot reach the 3% growth needed to tackle unemployment unless we allocate substantial resources to drive industrialisation, exports and jobs rich sectors and SMMEs.

Equally critical is a relief package for struggling businesses in the form of tax rebates, lower electricity prices and fixing the mess at the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employee Relief Scheme. Struggling workers and businesses get cold comfort from promises. They need cash in their pockets.

As the state is rebuilt and obstacles to growing the economy removed, a path to employment is needed for the millions of unemployed. The Presidential Employment Stimulus has done well paying the Minimum Wage and providing thousands of young people with the practical skills and experience needed to find permanent jobs. This must be ramped up to accommodate at least 2 million people each year.

Social grants and in particular the SRD Grant must be protected from inflationary erosion.  It is beyond shameful that in its five years of existence, the SRD Grant has only once been adjusted for inflation.

Commissioner Edward Kieswetter and SARS’ staff have done sterling work undoing the damage inflicted under state capture.Tax compliance has improved from 61% to 67%. SARS needs to be given further resources and a clear target of reaching 75% tax compliance by 2029. This will enable government to plug financial holes, improve public services, inject liquidity into the economy and provide relief to workers and the unemployed.

Government needs to exploit the MTBPS and the pending 2026 Budget to give hope to struggling workers and a weary society, and to lift the economy to the 3% economic growth needed to set South Africa firmly on the path to inclusive growth and renewal.

Issued by COSATU

International-Solidarity   

ITUC welcomes Stiglitz-led G20 report calling for a permanent global body on inequality

8 November 2025

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) welcomes the report to the G20 that calls for the creation of a permanent institutional mechanism at global level to address inequality in income, wealth and opportunities.e

The G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality, which produced the report, was led by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.

“ The ITUC strongly supports this initiative. It is a long overdue step toward confronting the deep and systemic inequities that shape the global economy.”ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle

“The report’s central message is clear: inequality is not an accident; it is the outcome of policy choices and power imbalances between labour and capital. As such, it must be addressed through deliberate, coordinated and accountable governance.”

The report reaffirms longstanding demands from the labour movement to address inequalities, including:

Strengthening labour rights.

Increasing wages.

Expanding collective bargaining coverage.

Ensuring fair and progressive taxation.

Guaranteeing universal social protection and quality public services.

“These are not only matters of justice, but crucial elements of sustainable and inclusive economies ”, continued Luc Triangle. “The Stiglitz report provides an important roadmap for action. It recognises that rising inequality is the result of a global economic model that has privileged profits over wages and speculation over production.

“Working people everywhere are bearing the costs of austerity, deregulation and the erosion of collective bargaining. It is time for governments to rebalance the system in favour of those who create value, not those who extract it.”

The ITUC supports the report’s recommendation for a new, International Panel on Inequality (IPI) that includes trade unions, civil society and academic experts. Such an initiative could monitor global disparities, assess the distributional impact of macroeconomic and fiscal policies, and issue policy guidance based on transparency and accountability.

It would complement and strengthen existing multilateral efforts, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the development of a UN Framework Convention on Tax, currently under negotiation.

“The G20 has an opportunity to institutionalise fairness at the heart of global governance. The ITUC stands ready to work with governments, the ILO and international institutions to make this proposal a reality. Reducing inequality is a prerequisite for stable, democratic and sustainable economies,” concluded Luc Triangle.

______________________________

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

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.