Taking COSATU Today Forward, 3 December 2025 #HappyBirthdayCOSATU #Cosatu40 #Cosatu40thAnniversary
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #HappyBirthdayCOSATU! #COSATU scheduled to hold #CosatuGolfDay at Johannesburg Country Club, Woodmead on December 4 #Cosatu40 #VioletSeboniBrigade #Cosatu40thAnniversary #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
3 December 2025
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
Organize at every workplace and demand respect for labour rights Now!
Defend Jobs Now!
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Media Alert: COSATU will present its submission on the Division of Revenue Amendment and Adjustments Appropriation Bills (Medium-Term Budget Policy State Statement) to Parliament Wednesday 03 December 2025
- COSATU embarks on a 40th Anniversary Final Push at Soweto townships this week
- Swinging for Dignity: COSATU and President Ramaphosa Tee Off for a Cause
- Applications for media accreditation to cover COSATU 40th Anniversary rally officially opened
- South Africa
- COSATU to celebrate 40th anniversary
- COSATU's remains concerned with the latest GDP growth figures
- SADTU congratulates COSATU on its 40th anniversary
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- African trade unions want critical minerals revenues to fund development
- Using collective bargaining to regulate the use of technology and artificial intelligence in higher education
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
Media Alert: COSATU will present its submission on the Division of Revenue Amendment and Adjustments Appropriation Bills (Medium-Term Budget Policy State Statement) to Parliament Wednesday 03 December 2025
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 02 December 2025
Media Alert: COSATU will present its submission on the Division of Revenue Amendment and Adjustments Appropriation Bills (Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement) to Parliament’s Select Committee: Appropriations from 10am Wednesday, 03 December 2025 (virtual platform).
Issued by COSATU
Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: mat...@cosatu.org.za
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COSATU embarks on a 40th Anniversary Final Push at Soweto townships this week
Thabo Mahlangu, COSATU National Organising Secretary, 1 December 2025
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Soweto targeted Areas (Mobilisation Blitz) |
Expected Attendees |
Date |
Time |
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Emndeni, Jabulani and Zola |
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2nd December 2025 |
10h00 until13h00 |
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Orlando West and Meadowlands |
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3rd December 2025 |
10h00 until 13h00 |
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Bara Mall and Bara Taxi Rank
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4th December 2025 |
11h00 until 13h00 |
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Dobsonville and Braamfischer Motorcade |
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5th December 2025 |
11h00 until 13h00 |
Details for assembly are table below:
Dates : 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th November 2025
Time : 09h00 – 14h00
Venue : Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto
Resources required: Minimum of 5 cars from each affiliate
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Swinging for Dignity: COSATU and President Ramaphosa Tee Off for a Cause
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 24 November 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is thrilled to announce its second annual Charity Golf Challenge, an inspiring event where labour, business and government unite on the green for a great cause. Members of the media are warmly invited to attend and cover this unique blend of sport, leadership and social impact.
This flagship initiative is more than a Corporate Social Investment project — it is a powerful demonstration of COSATU’s unwavering commitment to social justice and restoring dignity in communities beyond the workplace.
In a true celebration of Ubuntu, President Cyril Ramaphosa will join COSATU leaders, government departments and business partners on the golf course to help raise funds for its activities, school shoes and sanitary packs for underprivileged learners. Every swing will contribute to changing a child’s school experience and supporting their confidence and wellbeing.
Join us for a remarkable day of purpose-driven play:
COSATU Charity Golf Challenge
- Date: Thursday, 04 December 2025
- Presidential Tee off: 10:40
- Participants Tee off: 11:00 (Shotgun Start)
- Venue: Country Club Johannesburg (CCJ Woodmead)
The challenge will be followed by an elegant Gala Dinner at 18.30, where the day’s achievements will be celebrated and partners honoured.
Members of the media wishing to attend are invited to send their details to non...@cosatu.org.za
Issued by COSATU
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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
COSATU to celebrate 40th anniversary
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 02 December 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is set to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a rally at Dobsonville Stadium on Saturday, 6 December.
Launched at the height of apartheid on 1 December 1985, COSATU brought together 33 trade unions and federations under one banner with the rallying call of, “One union, one industry, one country, one federation.”
The Federation quickly became a force for liberation as it mobilised millions through national stay-aways, strikes and community campaigns such as the rent boycotts of the 1980s. In 1990, through its Workers’ Charter, COSATU ensured that workers’ demands were fed into the deliberations about a new constitution for South Africa. In the democratic era, the Federation has played a decisive role in shaping our progressive labours laws, strengthening collective bargaining, fighting for gender equality and championing causes such as access to HIV/Aids treatment and the implementation of the National Minimum Wage.
In 2019, COSATU worked closely with government and Edcon to drive a R3 billion package to save Edgars and the 140 000 direct and indirect jobs linked to it.
During COVID-19, we worked with government and business at Nedlac to put in place one of the world’s comprehensive health and safety plans as well as economic and social relief packages, saving the lives and livelihoods of millions.
Our affiliates have spent a great deal of time working with industry through master plans and other interventions as well as the Proudly SA campaign, to support locally produced goods and thus local jobs, businesses and value chains.
In 2020 COSATU initiated the Eskom Debt Relief Package that has enabled our most critical economic asset to focus on maintenance as the fastest path to ending the loadshedding disaster that threatened millions of jobs.
Now as it marks 40 years of existence, the Federation continues to improve the lives of the working class on the shopfloor and beyond. Leading up to its anniversary celebration, COSATU will host its 2nd annual Charity Golf Challenge on 4 December at the Country Club Johannesburg in Woodmead. In the spirit of Ubuntu and collective action, President Cyril Ramaphosa will join COSATU, government and business leaders at the event and tee off. This initiative aims not only to raise funds for COSATU’s activities but to donate school shoes and dignity packs to underprivileged learners so they can stay in school.
Following last year’s Charity Golf Challenge, 440 learners received donations – 200 were from Mochware Primary School in the North West and the remainder were from Sandringham High School in Johannesburg.
The tabling of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament in November reaffirmed government’s ill-considered commitment to continuing along the path of failed neoliberal austerity that has seen the economy stagnate at 1% growth rate since 2008, resulting in a staggering unemployment rate of 42.4%, entrenched poverty and inequality.
Whilst the CEC welcomed recent positive developments including South Africa’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force’ grey list, the credit rating upgrade by S&P, the addition of 248 000 new jobs in the third quarter, and a rise in the projected growth rate to 1.8% in the next three years, COSATU remains concerned that government is overly focused on cutting expenditure, debt and the deficit. This fixation, however, will not deliver the 3% economic growth needed for job creation.
COSATU will continue its opposition to government’s neoliberal trajectory to ensure it hires more teachers, nurses, doctors, police and provides the resources they need to do their jobs properly. While we acknowledge the progress at Eskom and the work underway at Transnet and Metro Rail, COSATU believes much more needs to be done to arrest the collapse of municipal and public services.
The Federation noted the lowering of the inflation target to 3%. While acknowledging that inflation impacts workers the most as their wages fail to keep pace with the rising cost of living, COSATU is worried that the cuts in the repo rate we have enjoyed in recent times will become rare and deny hugely indebted South Africans much needed relief. The Federation feels strongly that the core drivers of inflation including the international price of oil and its impact on fuel price along with Eskom’s dependence on double-digit tariff hikes must be addressed.
The CEC resolved to hold employers who default on paying workers’ pension contributions to account and take them to court where necessary. The number of defaulting employers has more than doubled from 7 700 last year to 15 500 this year according to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. This is nothing less than a criminal offence and must be treated as such. COSATU is engaging with the Department of Employment and Labour to mobilise Labour Inspectors to include pension fund payment compliance. The CEC also resolved to convene a Retirement Conference in the first quarter of 2026 as part of our campaign for comprehensive social security.
COSATU guided and assisted the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) and South African Taxi Drivers Workers Union (SATDWU) through the very difficult registration process with the Registrar of Labour Relations.
These unions represent vulnerable workers and are set to improve the lives of millions as they fight to advance and defend their rights. This is a major milestone towards protecting these workers.
COSATU congratulates its founding Affiliates the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) and the NUM as they celebrate their 50th and 43rd anniversaries respectively.
The Federation salutes these giant trade unions who were critical to its formation in 1985 and is proud of how they have led the struggles to improve the working conditions and lives of millions of mining, construction, electricity, retail, hospitality, catering and other exploited workers.
Issued by COSATU
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COSATU's remains concerned with the latest GDP growth figures
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 02 December 2025
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) remains deeply concerned with the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures.
Whilst appreciating that the economy has posted its fourth straight gain with a 0.5% growth rate quarter on quarter and 1.2% for the last nine months compared to the same period for 2024, it is still far from enough to see the economy growing at 2% let alone the 3% plus needed to generate a continuous and meaningful fall in unemployment.
We hope that the festive season will see a positive increase in the last quarter of the year, bringing the annual growth rate closer to the 2% that has eluded us for far too long.
It is important to acknowledge that the recent positive trends in the economy and state under the African National Congress led government from overcoming loadshedding to stabilising Transnet, reopening Metro Rail lines, exiting grey listing, turning the South African Revenue Service around as well as the creation of 248 000 new jobs in Quarter 3, and that these must still see their full impact filter down.
It is critical that government table a decisive Budget at Parliament in February that will put in place measures to capacitate frontline public services, rebuild local government, support State-Owned Enterprises, reduce the increasingly unaffordable price of electricity, provide relief to the working class and struggling businesses, accelerate the roll out of the R1 trillion infrastructure investment programme, and most critically include a bold new industrial and SMME financing package and a drastically ramped up Presidential Employment Stimulus.
These bold interventions are essential if we are to break out of the tepid economic growth we have stumbled along with since 2008 and reach the 3% needed to tackle unemployment, poverty and inequality.
Issued by COSATU
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SADTU congratulates COSATU on its 40th anniversary
Dr. Mugwena Maluleke, SADTU General Secretary, 02 December 2025
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) congratulates its labour federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) on its 40th anniversary. The Federation will mark this historic milestone of unwavering struggle, sacrifice, and triumph for the rights and dignity of workers at a celebratory rally in Soweto, Dobsonville Stadium on Saturday, 06 December 2025.
Born on 1 December 1985, in the dark days of apartheid, COSATU united workers across race, gender, and industry under one banner of solidarity and justice. It fought relentlessly to transform South Africa’s labour landscape — ensuring that today’s workers enjoy the protection of progressive laws such as the Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the National Minimum Wage Act.
COSATU was, and remains, far more than trade union movement. It was a pillar of the liberation struggle. It mobilised workers, challenged apartheid, and pushed for international sanctions until the dawn of democracy.
SADTU has every reason to be part of this momentous celebration. Our existence as a union is deeply intertwined with the history and struggle of COSATU. Following the Harare Unity Talks of 1988 which brought together racially and ethnically divided teacher associations, COSATU was entrusted with the task of uniting these organisations into one progressive, non-racial teachers’ union. The then COSATU General Secretary, Comrade Jay Naidoo, led that process with passion and revolutionary commitment, even chairing SADTU inaugural
congress in 1990.
Through COSATU’s nurturing hands, SADTU was born in 1990, with just 30,000 members. Today, we stand strong with close to 280,000 organised, conscious, and resolute members. This is a testament to the solid foundation laid by our mother federation.
COSATU has walked side by side with SADTU in every campaign — from our fight to end austerity measures, to demanding the filling of vacant teaching posts, to fighting for safe and functional schools for all. Together, we continue to struggle for a public education system that truly serves the working class.
SADTU regards the 40th anniversary celebration as a time to honour our shared past and renew our commitment to the ongoing struggle against unemployment, inequality, privatisation, and gender-based violence. It is a time to affirm that the spirit of worker solidarity remains alive under the principle: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
We recommit to building a just, democratic society where every worker - teacher, nurse, minor, cleaner, stands tall with dignity. We call on all workers, all communities, and all allies, to join COSATU in the moment of celebration, reflection, and renewal, to honour the sacrifices of those who came before us and to rekindle our revolutionary fire.
SADTU members will flood Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto on 6 December 2025. We will raise our banners high, sing our revolutionary songs, and celebrate the victories we have achieved through unity and struggle.
But we will also remind ourselves that the war is not yet over. The fight for worker emancipation continues, and we must march forward with unity, courage, and determination. A strong COSATU means a strong working class.
May the 40th anniversary be a beacon of hope, a celebration of unity and a call to action for generations to come.
Amandla!
An injury to one is an injury to all!
ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat
International-Solidarity
African trade unions want critical minerals revenues to fund development
2 December, 2025
On 1 December, trade unions representing millions of African workers in mining, energy and manufacturing industries gathered in Addis Ababa, declared that unless the new African green minerals strategy (AGMS) is radically redesigned around decent work and local value addition, the green boom will simply become the latest chapter in the extraction and export of mineral resources.
The declaration, by 35 trade unionists from 14 countries, was made at a colloquium to celebrate Africa Industrialization Day
under the theme: “Empowering workers in the AGMS: Balancing industrialization with human rights due diligence.”
The colloquium heard that Africa sits on more than 30 per cent of the world’s reserves of the minerals that will power the energy transition: cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, copper in Zambia, nickel in Madagascar, manganese in Gabon, graphite in
Mozambique, lithium in Zimbabwe and rare earths scattered from Namibia to Burundi. Yet the continent’s share of the value created from these resources has barely changed since the colonial era.
The declaration, jointly adopted by the IndustriALL Global Union Sub-Saharan Africa regional office and ITUC-Africa, shows that organized labour wants workers and communities to benefit from critical transition minerals (CTMs). “There can be no green transition
without decent work,” the unions insist, demanding permanent contracts, living wages, sector-wide collective bargaining and enforceable supply-chain accountability for Western and Chinese multinational corporations.
According to McKinsey estimates meeting global net-zero targets by 2050 will require US$3.5 trillion of investment in critical minerals, with Africa potentially capturing US$1 trillion of that if it moves up the value chain. At present, the continent exports
almost all its output as ore or low-grade concentrate. For instance, a smartphone battery that retails for US$50 may contain Congolese cobalt worth less than ten cents at the mine gate. The rest of the margin accrues in refineries in China, battery plants
in South Korea or Germany and assembly lines in California or Shenzhen. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo earned just US$1.2 billion in cobalt royalties in 2024 despite exporting material worth over US$20 billion on world markets.
Further, the unions’ demands are that the AGMS must mandate local processing and manufacturing. For example, batteries can be manufactured in Kolwezi, cathodes in Kitwe, precursor chemicals in Johannesburg backed by binding local-content rules and social clauses
in new investment packages. They insist that the strategy’s proposed 5 per cent of payroll for skills funds and 1 per cent of sales for research and development be co-governed by unions. They also demand renegotiation of existing contracts to stop profit-shifting
and illicit financial flows, with revenues channelled into sovereign wealth funds rather than externalized to tax havens.
The unions want environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards to be implemented with explicit labour protections including freedom of association, occupational health and safety, and decent work.
The colloquium emphasized that Africa’s working-age population will grow by about 450 million people by 2050 but without industrial jobs on a massive scale, that demographic dividend risks becoming a social catastrophe. “Resource-for-security” deals, unions
warn, risk turning mineral provinces into new arenas of proxy conflict.
“Africa is rich beneath the ground but poor above it and this must change,” said Martha Molema, ITUC-Africa president.
“Critical minerals must power African industrialization and decarbonization, support manufacturing industries and create jobs for the youth. Further, women in mining must be given licences and financial support to mine critical minerals,”
said Rose Omamo, IndustriALL vice president and ITUC-Africa deputy president.
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Using collective bargaining to regulate the use of technology and artificial intelligence in higher education
Future of work in education Equity and inclusion, 2 December 2025written by: Eric Rader
Interview with Eric Rader, Co-chair of the Higher Education Program and Policy Council of the American Federation of Teachers
This testimony was collected as part of the research project entitled “In the eye of the storm: Higher education in an age of crises” conducted by Howard Stevenson, Maria Antonietta Vega Castillo, Melanie Bhend, and Vasiliki-Eleni Selechopoulou for Education International. The research report and executive summary are available here.
Worlds of Education: Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly present in many aspects of life. In higher education, AI brings both challenges and opportunities. How has the AFT approached the implications of AI in the sector?
The AFT has decided to adopt a proactive and strategic response to AI in education. To this end, we have established two groups to look at the growing implications of AI use in the whole education sector.
An initial group was established that looked at AI issues across the whole sector (K-12 to higher education). In 2024, the group published a report that set out ‘common sense guardrails’ for using advanced technology in educational institutions.
However, we recognised that many issues relating to AI use have specific implications in higher education. This is why AFT President Randi Weingarten decided to establish a second task force, focused only on higher education. The higher education task force has released a document similar to AFT’s guardrail publication for education but highlighting specific higher education concerns, called “Key Principles for Using Artificial Intelligence” and can be found here.
Worlds of Education: What are some of the specific concerns AI raises in higher education?
We are concerned about access and equity issues relating to the use of AI in higher education. Intellectual property is another important issue that we must address. The deployment of technology in colleges and universities without consulting faculty is a serious problem as well. And of course, there is also the danger of AI being used to replace workers.
The AFT’s guiding principle is that AI must be used to augment work, not replace workers. Certainly, there are a lot of productive ways to use AI, but it should not be used as a way to replace workers. It is the human being who is at the centre of teaching and learning - not the AI tool.
We also believe that AI should not be used to make decisions about job appointments or tenure. We are working to ensure that only human beings make tenure and appointment decisions, and furthermore, that the rights of contingent staff are protected, and not undermined further, by the use of AI.
Worlds of Education: How does your union plan to address these concerns?
We are keen to ensure that AI is a staple issue on collective bargaining agendas. We are developing sample contract language that can be shared across unions in different institutions.
However, we also aim to ensure that AI issues are part of the wider shared governance agenda in higher education institutions. It can’t be just the administration making decisions and faculty having to follow them. The union has to be involved – whether it is negotiating new language in a contract, or through shared governance.
For example, faculty must be involved in decisions about IT infrastructure purchase and procurement and we must be involved at an early stage of the process. Technology purchase decisions have major implications for how teaching, research, and administration are undertaken, and can lock organisations into long term commitments. This is why faculty, through our unions, have to be involved in these decisions at a time when we can have meaningful influence.
The work of the AFT Higher Ed AI Task Force is on-going and embedding trade union involvement in decision-making and negotiations around the use of AI in higher education will be fundamental to our work going forward.
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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