Taking COSATU Today Forward, 8 September 2025 #CosatuCC2025
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #Cosatu scheduled to convene its ordinary 8th Central Committee, next week, from the 15th of September #CosatuCC2025 #WorkerControl #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
8 September 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Media Alert: Hundreds of COSATU delegates to gather at the Federation’s 8th Central Committee this September
- COSATU concerned about retrenchments
- COSATU backs call for life imprisonment of human traffickers
- South Africa
- COSATU rejects attempts by AfriForum and its friends to block Nedlac engagements on the Firearms Amendment Bill
- COSATU KZN Statement on the Impact of the Taxi Strike on Workers
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- COSATU General Secretary’s Speaking Notes for TUC Congress 7th September 2025
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
Media Alert: Hundreds of COSATU delegates to gather at the Federation’s 8th Central Committee this September
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 05 September 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will convene its 8th Central Committee meeting on the 15th -18th of September.
Held under the theme: “Building working-class unity for economic liberation towards socialism”, the four-day event will bring together around 400 members from the Federation’s affiliates, labour service organisations and international guests to amongst others, review the implementation of resolutions adopted at the previous Congress, provide political direction and focus on organisational issues ahead of the National Congress next year.
COSATU President Zingiswa Losi will deliver the keynote address with messages of support from the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Details of the event are as follows:
Date: 15-18 September 2025
Venue: Anew OR Tambo Hotel (formerly The Lakes Hotel, Benoni, Ekurhuleni)
All members of the media are invited to attend, and are encouraged to apply for accreditation to cover the event.
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:
https://forms.office.com/r/Yhyb5S6h59
Issued by COSATU
Zanele
Sabela (COSATU National Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788 or 077 600 6639
Email: zan...@cosatu.org.za
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COSATU concerned about retrenchments
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 6 September 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is deeply concerned about retrenchments announced recently across various sectors given our dangerously high unemployment rate of 42.9%, with youth unemployment currently at 73.1% and sluggish growth of 1%.
Ford announced its plan to cut 470 jobs last week saying it was adjusting its manufacturing operations. Tyre maker, Goodyear SA, shut its doors permanently and left 900 workers jobless, albeit they were compensated.
Despite government efforts to support it, ArcelorMittal SA (AMSA) has decided to pull the plug on its long steel operations in Newcastle and Vereeniging by end of September, putting 3 500 direct jobs and an estimated 100 000 jobs along the value chain at risk.
Glencore has said it is consulting recognised unions regarding job cuts although it wasn’t immediately clear how many workers it intends to retrench. The miner cited rising electricity costs and economic pressures as some of the contributing factors to the suspension of production at some of its smelters.
AMSA has also decried high energy costs, inefficient and high transport costs, and cheap imports flooding the local market.
COSATU has sounded the alarm on the unaffordable price of electricity and relentless increases that have seen rise by 450% since 2006, squeezing working-class families, robbing them of money to buy food and other essential goods, as well as starving the economy of badly needed stimulus. No wonder 70% of households are drowning in debt.
To stem the tide of job losses, the Federation urges government to implement key interventions including moving all consumers to prepaid electricity meters while provisioning free allocation for indigent households; disconnecting all illegal connections with the help of law enforcement agencies; revamping Treasury’s debt relief package for municipalities that collectively owe Eskom more than R94 billion; stemming wasteful expenditure, crime, corruption and vandalism.
The 30% tariff imposed on South African exports to the US is set to further impact the automotive, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. It is urgent that the South African government ramp up engagements with the US to ensure that these tariffs can be lowered and a mutually beneficial new trade agreement put in place.
The Federation will continue to work closely with the South African government to ensure that this can happen, that new trade markets can be sought and measures to cushion affected sectors and jobs be put in place.
Issued by COSATU
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COSATU backs call for life imprisonment of human traffickers
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 6 September 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) supports the call for life imprisonment of seven Chinese nationals convicted of human trafficking and child labour.
The prosecution in the case of seven Chinese nationals who were arrested in November 2019, after a joint raid found 91 undocumented Malawian nationals, 37 of whom were children, locked in a factory in Village Deep, Johannesburg has pleaded with the court to put them behind bars for life.
The Hawks, South African Police Service, Department of Employment and Labour and Home Affairs discovered the captured Malawian nationals when they raided the Beautiful City factory following a tip-off.
Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hi, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying and Zhang Zhilain were convicted of human trafficking, kidnapping and violating labour regulations in February this year, for making the Malawian nationals work for 11 hours a day, seven days a week under armed guard, paying them far less than minimum wage.
Human trafficking is termed modern slavery; and is defined as the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring, or receiving individuals using force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labour, sexual slavery or other forms. It is considered a grievous violation of human rights.
It is for this reason that COSATU supports the call for life imprisonment in this case, moreover as some of the victims were children. The Federation joined the commemoration of National Day Against Child Labour on 8 August and noted that child labour robs children of proper development and the opportunity to pursue the education they need to uplift them.
Following recent reports of young South Africans being lured into human trafficking schemes outside the country, COSATU along with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation warned young people to thoroughly verify overseas job opportunities to avoid falling prey to these perilous schemes disguised as legitimate prospects.
COSATU urges the South Gauteng High Court to make an example of the seven Chinese nationals by handing down the harshest sentence possible to deter others from operating human trafficking schemes in our constitutional democracy.
The Federation calls on the Department of Employment and Labour to ramp up site inspections of workplaces to combat human trafficking and child labour.
Issued
by COSATU
COSATU rejects attempts by AfriForum and its friends to block Nedlac engagements on the Firearms Amendment Bill
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 08 September 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) rejects with contempt the silly attempts by AfriForum and other right-wing extremists to block Nedlac engagements on the Firearms Amendment Bill and thus fulfilling its statutory obligation to provide space for government to consult business, labour and community on various socio-economic and labour policies and legislation. COSATU, unlike these peace time warriors, fought and suffered to achieve this constitutional democracy. It is not a matter the Federation takes lightly and no amount of temper tantrums by some bored, aging juveniles will deter Nedlac from doing its work.
AfriForum and its little friends lament that government does not indulge their ill-considered grievances, yet the Police Secretariat gazetted the Bill for public comments, engaged stakeholders including the various gun lobbies, industry, hunting and sporting associations and made adjustments to the Bill where reasonable proposals were made. It is beyond infantile that some of these same self-entitled brats seek to deny business, labour and community at Nedlac that very same courtesy.
Firearms and their direct relationship to South Africa’s extreme levels of violent crime are a matter of great concern to millions of working-class families. A police officer is murdered each week, most due to gun shots. Thirty-three South Africans are killed by firearms daily. This rate has doubled over the past two decades. The gun lobby claims that legal firearms deter crime, yet this is not born out by facts.
Over 24 legal firearms are stolen every day; 29% of murders are gun related. Gun owners are four times as likely to have their firearms stolen than to use them in self-defence and 2.5 times as likely to be killed during burglaries.
When government led by the African National Congress introduced the Firearms Act in 2000 within a five-year period 800 000 firearms were recovered by the South African Police Service and the South African National Defence Force, 4 500 fewer deaths occurred due to firearms, and there was a 35% decrease in the number of stolen firearms.
COSATU, like all other calm and sober organisations, understands the direct link between legal firearms that find their way into the hands of criminals and our unacceptably high levels of gun related crimes. Owning a firearm is a privilege and not a right. Our police and traffic officers, security and cash-in-transit guards deserve to have their right to life respected.
Women and children deserve the right not to fear being killed with a gun by a loved one at home. The Constitution guarantees all South Africans the right to life and places an obligation upon the state to provide society with the necessary safety and security.
There is a place in society for the responsible ownership of firearms for legitimate self-defence, sports and hunting.
But these must be done within clear parameters. The Bill provides rational and fair measures to achieve this. It includes long overdue and progressive clauses elevating gun ownership for real not imagined self-defence, clear prohibitions on certain high calibre and automatic firearms, bans on persons with gender-based and other violent criminal charges and convictions, the automatic testing of all firearms for a central ballistics database to improve SAPS’ capabilities to identify perpetrators, as well as limitations on the number of firearms and ammunition a person may own.
These do not amount to a ban on firearm ownership but rather a welcome attempt by government to nudge South Africa towards a more responsible approach to firearms, to stem the flood of guns used to kill over 12 000 annually and create a safer society.
COSATU welcomes this progressive Bill and looks forward to constructive engagements at Nedlac, including with industry, the sporting and hunting fraternity, on how this important legislation can be enriched and ultimately passed into law by Parliament and implemented by government.
Issued by COSATU
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COSATU KZN Statement on the Impact of the Taxi Strike on Workers
Edwin Mkhize, COSATU KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Secretary, 05 September 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in KwaZulu-Natal notes the taxi strike that took place on Thursday in Durban and surrounding areas, as the taxi industry took to the streets, fighting for their rights.
This industrial action had a severe impact on thousands of workers who were unable to report for duty. We must emphasise that this was not the fault of workers, as the majority of poor and struggling workers in our province rely on the taxi industry as their primary mode of transport.
COSATU KZN therefore calls upon employers to exercise understanding and not subject workers to disciplinary action or punitive measures for circumstances beyond their control. Workers should not be punished for a national challenge that speaks to broader socio-economic issues.
As COSATU KZN, we reaffirm our commitment to rebuilding and strengthening our relationship with the taxi industry, recognising it as an important stakeholder in the transport sector and in the daily lives of workers.
We further call upon our affiliated unions to be proactive in defending and assisting workers who may face victimisation or prejudice as a result of their absence during the strike.
The unity of workers and their allies across sectors is key to overcoming these challenges.
Issued by COSATU KwaZulu Natal
International-Solidarity
COSATU General Secretary’s Speaking Notes for TUC Congress 7th September 2025
Solly Phetoe, COSATU General Secretary, 8 September 2025
Revolutionary Greetings,
All protocol observed,
Question 1: How can trade unions work together to oppose violations of international law by Israel and stand in solidarity with Palestinians?
Comrades, for COSATU this question is not theoretical. It is not something happening far away that we observe from a distance. It is deeply personal, rooted in our lived memory as South Africans. We come from a land that was once shackled by apartheid, dispossession, and racial oppression.
We know the taste of daily humiliation, the violence of forced removals, the imprisonment of our leaders, the massacres of our people, and the denial of our very dignity. And we also know the power of solidarity, how workers and unions across the world stood with us and helped break the chains of apartheid.
It is that lived experience that shapes how we view Palestine today. We see clearly that the system Palestinians face, of checkpoints, walls, illegal settlements, siege, and military occupation, is the same system of apartheid we once defeated in South Africa.
We see how Gaza is strangled, how collective punishment and ethnic cleansing are carried out, how jobs and homes are destroyed. And we refuse to be silent.
South Africa has already taken a historic step. We have brought Israel before the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention, making clear that the world cannot remain silent while entire communities are erased. The ICJ’s provisional measures confirm what Palestinians, unions, and activists have been saying for decades: Israel is in violation of international law, and impunity must end.
The task before trade unions is urgent and clear. The 14th BRICS Trade Union Forum Declaration puts it plainly: “We emphasize the importance of peaceful solutions to conflicts and humanitarian crises, as we consider peace an essential condition for the defense of labour rights and the interests of workers.” If peace is a precondition for workers’ rights, then we as trade unions have no choice but to stand with Palestine, for without peace and justice in Palestine there can be no meaningful defence of labour rights in the world.
The L20 Statement to the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers under South Africa’s Presidency equally reminds us: “We are living and working in an unequal world and we need to ensure decent work and decent lives.” But comrades, there can be no decent work and no decent lives in a world where apartheid regimes are allowed to flourish.
For COSATU, this solidarity is not symbolic. It is ongoing, concrete work:
- We are part of the Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions campaign, because just as the arms embargo and economic sanctions helped break apartheid in South Africa, so too must they isolate Israel’s apartheid regime.
- We are strengthening worker-to-worker solidarity with Palestinian unions, sharing resources, amplifying their voices, and ensuring their struggles are visible in every global labour platform.
- We are using multilateral forums , BRICS, the G20, the ILO, to push for Palestine’s cause to be seen not as a regional issue, but as central to the global fight for justice and democracy.
- We are mobilising at home and internationally, ensuring that workers, communities, and pension funds join the campaign for disinvestment, and that no normal relations are allowed with an abnormal state.
As we said in our own notes to the British TUC Congress: “An injury to one is an injury to all. The injury being inflicted on Palestine is an injury to the entire working class and to humanity. We defeated apartheid here through sacrifice, unity, and global solidarity. That victory is proof that the people of Palestine will also win.”
This is the commitment we bring into every space, whether it is BRICS, the L20, or the G20. Until Palestine is free, none of us are free.
Question 2: How should Global South and Global North unions work together to push for financial policies which promote Just Transition and decent work, particularly in the context of Trump’s tariffs?
Comrades, the global economy today is in crisis. Workers face a world marked by the aftershocks of COVID-19, the ongoing war in Ukraine, accelerating climate change, and the renewed unilateralism of Trump’s tariffs.
These tariffs are not just trade measures; they are part of what we have called in COSATU “a radical imperialist, neocolonial, mercantilist agenda … an attempt at structurally integrating the Global South as a supplier of raw materials and an importer of value-added goods.” It is economic warfare, aimed at premature deindustrialisation of the South and entrenching dependency.
This is why South Africa’s G20 Presidency could not be more important. Its chosen theme, “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability” — captures the essence of what workers need at this critical moment. The B20–L20 Statement 2025, welcomed this theme and highlighted the four priorities of the employment track: “inclusive growth and youth employment; gender equality in the workforce; addressing inequality and a declining labour income share; and digitisation and an inclusive future of work.” These are not abstract goals. They are the battlefields where the future of workers will be won or lost.
The L20 Statement was even sharper, insisting that: “Having a decent job that pays a living wage is the most effective way to lift people out of poverty and ensure sustainable and inclusive economic growth.” It called for “decent job creation through strong investments in job-rich climate-friendly sectors such as infrastructure development, the digital and green economy, and the care economy.” These are the concrete measures unions must fight for if we are to defend workers against austerity, climate disruption, and the weaponisation of trade.
And the 14th BRICS Trade Union Forum Declaration speaks directly to this when it says: “Global governance cannot be held hostage by hegemonic interests that perpetuate inequalities and social setbacks … We support the expansion of BRICS financial mechanisms, such as the New Development Bank, to strengthen our economic responsiveness and reduce dependence on hegemonic financial systems.” This is the alternative we must build — a fair, multipolar order where financial rules serve people, not creditors.
COSATU is not waiting. We are already doing this work:
- Debt justice: We are campaigning for debt sustainability frameworks that exempt essential spending — on climate resilience, social protection, education, and decent work — from debt conditionalities. We are demanding, with the AU and the L20, a UN-anchored debt workout mechanism that prioritises people over creditors.
- Just Transition in practice: In South Africa’s energy sector, we are negotiating frameworks that put workers and communities at the centre of decarbonisation — ensuring reskilling, social protection, and decent climate jobs are guaranteed.
- Union power: We are defending and expanding collective bargaining and union density, because the L20 is right when it says: “Strengthening collective bargaining is key to increase the labour income share and promote decent work.” Without strong unions, there can be no just transition.
- Global advocacy: Through BRICS, the L20, and the G20, we are pressing for new financing windows to support workers during industrial transitions, to integrate informal workers into social protection, and to fund reskilling and education on a massive scale.
And we must insist, comrades, that every Nationally Determined Contribution under the UNFCCC include a chapter on Just Transition negotiated with unions, as the L20 demands. As it says: “Combating climate change, creating good union jobs, and advancing social equality will only succeed if taken forward together.”
So, when we talk about resisting tariffs, it is not simply about opposing Trump’s trade war. It is about fighting for a new economic order — one where solidarity between unions in the Global South and the Global North delivers climate justice, debt justice, and decent work. One where workers are not the victims of globalisation but the authors of a fairer, sustainable, multipolar future.
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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