Taking COSATU Today Forward, 5 September 2025 #CosatuCC2025
Norman Mampane
|
COSATU TODAY #CosatuCC2025 Count down has begun…. #Cosatu scheduled to convene its ordinary 8th Central Committee this month, September 2025 #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
5 September 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!
- Hundreds of COSATU delegates to gather at the Federation’s 8th Central Committee this September
- South Africa
- POPCRU statement on the National Police Commemoration Day
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- COSATU unequivocally supports the 10 South Africans who are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla to open a humanitarian sea corridor on Gaza
- WFTU Solidarity Statement with the upcoming struggles of the European Trade Unions
- Statement regarding the assassination of the Prime Minister of Yemen
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
Hundreds of COSATU delegates to gather at the Federation’s 8th Central Committee this September
Zanele Sabela, (COSATU National Spokesperson, 02 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
POPCRU statement on the National Police Commemoration Day
Richard Mamabolo, POPCRU National Spokesperson, 5 September 2025
As we mark the upcoming South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commemoration Day this Sunday, 7 September 2025, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) does so with heavy hearts. Each year, the Wall of Remembrance grows longer, reflecting the increasing toll of lives lost in the line of duty.
This year, we remember 27 SAPS members who fell between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. Yet, many more have died off duty or sustained career-ending injuries, leaving behind widows, widowers, and children—often the dependants of these breadwinners. It is disheartening that their families are paraded annually before the public, with little meaningful change in the conditions that lead to these tragedies.
Despite the existence of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), most members agree that its benefits remain inadequate. The death grant of R250,000—unchanged since inception—cannot sustain the families of fallen officers, particularly in supporting children’s education and basic needs.
In line with PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2025 Service Allowance has increased from R700 to R950, it will again increase with CPI on yearly basis from 2026/2027 in accordance with SSSBC Agreement 1 of 2025.
Attending ceremonies that annually add names to the wall is not enough. We want to see fewer names inscribed—not more. Honouring our fallen must go hand in hand with decisive measures to protect those still serving.
POPCRU calls on government to:
• Strengthen community–police relations and involve strategic stakeholders in combating serious and violent crime.
• Reverse austerity measures affecting the criminal justice cluster.
• Finalise and implement a promotion policy and grade progression.
• Ensure proper tools of trade for all officers.
• Incorporate all Public Service Act appointees into the SAPS Act.
Our members are deeply agitated by the continued loss of their colleagues and demand urgent, practical steps to reduce police killings and injuries, whether on or off duty.
As we pay tribute to our fallen heroes and heroines, let this day not only be one of remembrance, but also a catalyst for the transformation of policing conditions in South Africa.
Issued by POPCRU
International-Solidarity
COSATU unequivocally supports the 10 South Africans who are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla to open a humanitarian sea corridor on Gaza
Bongani Masuku, COSATU International Secretary, 4 September 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) stands in unwavering solidarity with the 10 South African internationalists and all the global compatriots who are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the siege on Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is the largest civilian maritime effort to confront the siege on Gaza and open a humanitarian sea corridor. South Africa’s delegation includes Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, Fatima Hendricks, Zaheera Soomar, Jared Sacks, Elham Mouaffak Hatfield, Zukiswa Wanner, Irshaad Ahmed Chotia, Fazel Behra, Nurian Saloojee and Reaaz Moola.
The war on Gaza has become the most pressing humanitarian disaster of our times.
COSATU further expresses unwavering solidarity with the courageous workers of the world who are part of this historic initiative. We particularly salute the courage of the Italian trade union movement for their firm pronouncement that they will shut down the whole of Europe if the Flotila is blocked or attacked.
The Federation is set to hold its Central Committee (CC) from 15 to 18 September, during which it will receive reports on the current global context and struggles in order to intensify working class internationalism and solidarity.
The crimes of war, genocide and apartheid are our struggles. No amount of economic bullying and blackmail shall stop the forward march to a free, democratic and just Palestine.
We are determined that from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free.
Issued by COSATU
_______________________
WFTU Solidarity Statement with the upcoming struggles of the European Trade Unions
4 September 2025
The European Regional Office of the WFTU expresses its solidarity with the several important struggles currently being waged by trade unions in numerous countries across Europe.
This new wave of struggles underscores once again in practice the refusal of workers to pay the cost of the crisis and the wars of the bourgeoisie.
Workers, who did not share the profits during periods of extended capitalist growth, will not consent to pay for the consequences of capitalist economic depression, nor will they become cannon fodder in wars fought for the profits of monopolies.
EUROF welcomes the militant stance and consistency of the members of the WFTU, hoisting high the banners of struggle, demanding decent living and working conditions.
We salute the Rally that will be organized by PAME and the Greek workers on Monday, September 8th in Greece, under the slogan “NO to 13-Hour Workday Slavery”, demanding the withdrawal of the relevant monstrous anti-labour bill and fighting for a 7-hour day, 5-day work week, and 35-hour workweek with wage increase.
We express our solidarity with PEO and the All-Trade Unions mobilization and general strike on September 11th, 2025, demanding the Cost-of-Living Allowance (CoLA), the mechanism that automatically adjusts the nominal salary based on inflation, to offset the erosion of real salary and the purchasing power of the wage employees.
We stand by the French workers of the WFTU affiliates in France who condemn the budget proposals presented by the Prime Minister were immediately and denounce the elimination of two public holidays, cuts to public services, the undermining of labor rights, yet another reform of unemployment insurance, the freezing of social benefits and the salaries of civil servants and contract workers, the deindexation of retirement pensions, the doubling of medical deductibles, the undermining of the fifth week of paid vacation. We support the French workers’ struggle for dignified wages and working conditions, for hope, social justice, and fiscal justice.
We support the USB Italy for its strong struggles against war, against rearm Europe and against the cut of resourses for salaries, health, school.
We support Tube union RMT for the strike action next Friday 5th September for seven days, with different grades taking industrial action at differing times, strike for pay, fatigue management, extreme shift patterns and a reduction in the working week.
We are in the front line in all the struggles for the palestinian people.
We, the workers of Europe, will not become slaves of the 21st century!
Hope lies in our class struggle!
_____________________________
Statement regarding the assassination of the Prime Minister of Yemen
Mbulelo Mandlana, Head of Media, Communications and Information, 4 September 2025
The South African Communist Party (SACP) expresses grave concern regarding the assassination of the prime minister of the Sanaa-based authorities on 28 August 2025. The Israeli government has publicly acknowledged its involvement in the killing of Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser al-Rahawi, as well as several other senior Ansar Allah officials.
We condemn, in the strongest terms, cross-border assassinations and extra-territorial forces that violate the UN Charter, the right to life, the sovereignty of states and the fundamental principles of international law governing warfare. These criminal actions, executed with the backing of United States imperialism, reveal their willingness to infringe upon the sovereignty of Yemen and numerous independent nations in the West Asian region.
The Yemeni people have demonstrated remarkable courage and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle against the genocide perpetrated by apartheid Israel. Consequently, they have faced relentless attacks from the United States and Israel, resulting in widespread disruption and destruction of public systems, leading in many instances to starvation and disease. These attacks are unacceptable, and the extrajudicial killing of a leader surpasses any bounds of civility, even in the context of war.
For decades, Yemen has been subjected to foreign intervention, blockades and interference. Since 2020, hopes for peace have repeatedly been sabotaged by the interference of external powers, especially the United States and its allies, who treat Yemen not as a sovereign nation but as a battlefield for imperial domination.
The assassination of the prime minister and other senior leaders of Ansar Allah is not an isolated incident but part of a broader US-Israeli strategy to crush all forces that dare to resist their hegemony and that stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The relentless pursuit of defending the Palestinian people and fostering regional solidarity in West Asia against imperialism is a cause that must be championed. The unwavering commitment of the Yemeni people serves as a testament to this cause.
In this spirit, the SACP extends its heartfelt sympathies and solidarity to the people of Yemen. We strongly urge the global community and the Middle East in particular to collaborate towards restoring peace, ending the ongoing genocide in Palestine, halting the attacks on Yemen, and lifting the sanctions imposed on Iran, among other measures.
The actions of the United States and Israel are morally reprehensible and should not be tolerated. As the SACP, we call on the working class in South Africa and all citizens to join us in solidarity with Yemen and the oppressed people in the Middle East region who continue to suffer under the oppressive rule of imperialism.
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID
______________________________
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