Taking COSATU Today Forward, 21 November 2025 #Cosatu@40 #Cosatu40thAnniversary
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY Today, it’s #CosatuRedFridays… #G20SouthAfrica #VioletSeboniBrigade #Cosatu40thAnniversary #COP30noBrasil#JustTransition #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
21 November 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU Eastern Cape holds COSATU 40th anniversary lecture
- Applications for media accreditation to cover COSATU 40th Anniversary rally officially opened
- South Africa
- NEHAWU statement on the North Gauteng Court Ruling in the matter between the union and SARS in relation to the implementation of a wage agreement
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- At least 50 miners killed in Congo bridge collapse; unions demand action
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU Eastern Cape holds COSATU 40th anniversary lecture
Mkhawuleli Maleki, COSATU Eastern Cape Provincial Secretary, 20 Novembe 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the Eastern Cape ill be holding a lecture in celebration of COSATU’s 40th anniversary which serves a s build up towards the national event to be held at Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto, Johannesburg on 06 December 2025.
40 years of existence is an important millstone worthy to be celebrated. The past 40years have been characterized by bitter struggles that resulted in scores of victories that have been won in the best interests of the workers. So much has been achieved, yet more still needs to be done.
As we appreciate the victories we have won, we draw strength from them, and we equally draw courage from the lessons learnt from our setbacks. As we march forward, we carry with us the experiences of the past. We are proud of our history and confident of our future.
The details of our lecture are as follows:
Date: 21 November 2025
Time: 10h00
Venue: Orient Theatre. East London
COSATU Deputy General Secretary, Comrade Mkhomazi Gerald Twala will deliver the lecture after messages of support by Alliance partners.
We take this moment to invite everyone to attend and be part of this historic event.
Issued by COSATU Eastern Cape
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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
NEHAWU statement on the North Gauteng Court Ruling in the matter between the union and SARS in relation to the implementation of a wage agreement
Zola Saphetha, NEHAWU General Secretary, November 20, 2025
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] is highly disappointed by the judgement handed down by the North Gauteng High Court in the matter between the union and the South African Revenue Services in relation to the implementation of a wage agreement.
The judgement handed down by Judge Kumalo relates to our opposition of a Settlement Agreement of the 2019-22 Wage Agreement enter into between SARS and PSA to be made an order of court and for the order to be declared binding on our members.
On the 22nd of November 2023, the High Court granted an application for an order compelling SARS to implement the 2019-2022 Wage Agreement. SARS opposed the application to enforce the agreement and simultaneously filed a counter-application seeking to review and set aside the Wage Agreement. SARS subsequently applied for leave to appeal the court’s decision of 22 November 2023, but the application was withdrawn.
The union and SARS engaged in discussions to resolve the dispute relating to the judgment that arose from the non-implementation of the third year of the Wage Agreement. The discussions broke down on the 8th of February 2024, following the collapse of discussions, SARS filed an application for leave to appeal on the 22nd of February 2024.
Subsequently, on the 15th of March 2024, SARS and PSA entered into a Settlement Agreement. Furthermore SARS applied for the Settlement Agreement to be made an order of court and for an order be declared binding on our members.
The matter was heard on the 21st of May 2025, wherein the North Gauteng High Court was confronted with essentially three applications, one being the SARS leave to appeal against the last leg of the 2019 – 2022 wage agreement dispute, in particular clause 4.1 which required SARS to pay 6.2% in respect of the last leg.
In the said judgement, the North Gauteng High Court had made the last leg of the wage agreement an order of court and SARS were seeking leave to appeal of the said judgement.
The second application which is also incidental to the leave to appeal relates to the condonation application for the late filing of the SARS’s leave to appeal. Lastly, it was the application by SARS to make a settlement agreement between them and another trade union an order of court.
The said settlement agreement is a watered down version of the judgement. We state so because SARS only paid 3.9% in respect of the last leg of the wage agreement instead of the full 6.2% as a consequence 2.3% remained outstanding. Essentially, workers have received 2.3% less than what the signed wage agreement would have provided them.
During the court hearing, the judge adopted the view that the application to hear the settlement agreement being made an order of court should take preference simply because the current application might render the leave to appeal and the condonation nugatory.
As NEHAWU, we argued that the settlement agreement cannot be made an order of court as the said agreement is tantamount to an amendment of the wage agreement of 2019 -2022. Furthermore, we argued that this was legally impermissible because the 2019 -2022 wage agreement had a non-variation clause as espoused in clause 8.5.
The North Gauteng High Court delivered its judgment granting SARS the order to make the settlement agreement an order of court squarely on the basis that the settlement agreement was a compromise between the parties and it did not constitute a variation of the main agreement in the strict sense. This, by implication, means the settlement agreement is now extended to all workers including those in the bargaining unit which the majority of our members are.
As NEHAWU, we have consulted our legal team and have determined that the judgement will be appealed as it is legally flawed, in the main, the court exercised its discretion to make a settlement agreement an order of court in circumstances where the said settlement agreement would be at odds with the standing collective agreement.
Lastly, the union has until to the 26th of November 2025 to file the leave to appeal and it shall ensure full compliance with the court rules and timelines.
We want assure our members that their union will do everything available at its disposal to defend collective bargaining in SARS and elsewhere as this is a battle worth to fight for.
END
Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat.
International-Solidarity
At least 50 miners killed in Congo bridge collapse; unions demand action
20 November, 2025
The tragic bridge collapse at the Kalando artisanal copper and cobalt mine in Mulondo, Lualaba province, on 15November 2025, which claimed at least 50 lives and left dozens injured or missing, is a heartbreaking reminder of the deadly risks and hazardous conditions faced by artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to IndustriALL affiliated unions in the DRC, this preventable disaster was triggered by excessive force by law enforcement, including the issue of live ammunition, which led to a stampede after heavy rains flooded the site. In a bid to escape, over 10,000 artisanal miners were forced onto a makeshift bridge leading to its collapse. The unions said the bridge collapse, exposes systemic failures in health and safety oversight that continues to haunt the ASM sector in the Central African country.
“The sheer scale of this loss, compounded by the alleged unsafe construction of a makeshift bridge across a flooded trench demands immediate comprehensive action. We call upon the DRC government to launch an urgent transparent investigation to determine the root cause of this disaster and ensure that those responsible are held accountable,”
said Mpho Phakedi, NUM general secretary.
The DRC’s mining sector, which produces over 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt, relies heavily on ASM, which employs 1.5 to 2 million workers directly and supports countless more through informal supply chains. Yet, these miners operate in unregulated sites
prone to landslides, floods and structural failures, inadequate or no personal protective equipment and enforcement undermined by corruption, conflict and economic desperation caused by poverty.
However, unions said the Mulando incident is not isolated as similar catastrophes have killed hundreds in recent years, underscoring a crisis that demands immediate transformative policy reform from the government.
“We urgently call on the DRC government to ratify International Labour Organization (ILO) Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (C176) as a corrective measure,” said Didier Okonda, the general secretary of Travailleurs Unis des Mines, Metallurgies, Energie,
Chimie et Industries Connexes (TUMEC). Convention 176, which the DRC has yet to ratify, despite campaigns by trade unions, establishes binding standards for risk assessment, emergency preparedness, worker training and inspection regimes in mining operations.
Ratification would compel the creation of a national mining safety authority, mandatory site inspections and community consultation mechanisms essential steps to avert future tragedies like Mulando. Equally critical is the formalization of ASM to break the
cycle of informality that breeds vulnerability, recommended the unions. The ILO Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204), provides a roadmap for this shift.
In DRC, where trade unions like the Confédération Syndicale du Congo (CSC) and other IndustriALL affiliates are already advocating
for its monitoring, full implementation could streamline licensing, provide access to credit and markets and integrate miners into social protection systems. The unions are urging the government to convene a national tripartite dialogue involving miners, employers
and civil society to operationalize R204, targeting ASM cooperatives for pilot formalization programmes and investing in infrastructure like secure bridges and flood barriers at high-risk sites.
As part of recommendations at a battery supply chain roundtable in Kolwezi in which IndustriALL affiliates participated in October, a human rights due diligence forum will be formed to protect workers in the formal and ASM sectors. Further, the forum will support
enforcement of supply chain due diligence under frameworks like the OECD Guidelines.
“A human rights due diligence approach ensures that what happened at Mulondo will never happen again. Artisanal miners rights and dignity must be respected and protected by the laws and regulations,”
said Glen Mpufane, IndustriALL mining director.
“What happened with this case in DRC is a clear example on how mining is dangerous work around the world. Critical minerals are important for the world particularly in decarbonization of global economy and working conditions of miners must be improved through human rights due diligence. While mourning for our killed fellow miners, we demand accountability from the government in order to end further deaths and hazardous conditions for miners,”
said assistant general secretary Kemal Özkan.
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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