The Congress of South African Trade Unions looks back on 2024 as a year of mixed fortunes constituting both high and low points.
Among the high points are the successful rallies we held across all nine provinces to mark Workers Day on 1 May. Workers demonstrated their support for the Federation and its Affiliates and attended the rallies in their numbers, particularly the main event at Athlone Stadium in the Western Cape.
This being election year, COSATU and its ally, the South African Communist Party, spent a significant part of the first half of the year mobilising workers to register and vote for the leader of the Alliance, the African National Congress. The ANC’s decision to form a government of national unit (GNU) when it didn’t garner enough support to govern on its own, reaffirmed and strengthened our commitment to do everything in our power to advance and defend the rights workers have fought hard for and won since the democratic breakthrough.
The sweetest victory secured by COSATU for workers this year, is the coming into effect of the Two-Pot retirement system on 1 September, more than four years after the Federation first proposed it in Parliament in May 2020. In excess of R35 billion has been withdrawn from the Two-Pot regime savings component, bringing relief to almost 2 million heavily indebted workers. These numbers are set to continue rising as pension funds continue to disperse payments to workers.
COSATU has already tabled key proposals to Treasury and Parliament for the next round of pension reforms including easing the tax burden on low-income earners, ensuring workers who lose their jobs retain access to all their savings so they can take care of their families, allowing workers to tap into existing savings to provide greater relief, and enabling workers to use their pensions as collateral for study fees as education is an investment in one’s career and earning potential.
An additional benefit of the Two-Pot system has been the exposure of more than 7 700 employers who have been defaulting on workers pension fund payments. COSATU will follow up on these delinquent employers to make sure they comply and bring workers’ contributions up to date, including through partnering with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and Department of Employment and Labour.
Despite heavy criticism from detractors, the Federation held a successful Section 77 National Day of Action on 7 October, and simultaneously marked International Day of Decent Work by shining a light on retrenchments in spite of staggering unemployment, entrenched poverty, inequality and rising costs of living. This was followed by a well-supported march to Parliament on 30 October as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presented the Mid-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). COSATU joined hands with progressive civil society organisations to protest Treasury’s continued neoliberal approach to tackling the many deep socio-economic crises facing the country.
At 41.9%, the unemployment rate is not only perilously high but is also exactly where it was at the beginning of 2024. Unemployment among youth aged 15 to 24 years, however, has increased by 3.1% from 67.6% in the third quarter of 2023 to 70.7% in Quarter 3 this year. Yet the funding for the Presidential Employment Stimulus and other employment programmes meant to help young people enter the labour market have been cut. COSATU has consistently called on government to expand these programmes.
The Federation has warned Treasury against its plan to reduce the public service by 30 000 posts by offering early retirement packages, for fear of losing the critical skills base built over many years. However, if government insists on going ahead with this plan, COSATU believes it should hire 40 000 younger workers to replace those civil servants who would have opted for early retirement.
This year the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant was adjusted from R350 to R370 to account for inflation for the first time since inception during the Covid-19 lockdown. Though the amount is low, it provides relief to millions who have no other source of income. COSATU perceives of the SRD grant as a foundation for the Basic Income Grant and constantly calls on government to move towards this long-sought instrument by increasing it to the food poverty line.
In March the Federation welcomed the increase in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) to R27.58. The NMW has lifted the most vulnerable workers including farmworkers, domestic workers, construction, cleaning and hospitality workers out of poverty. COSATU’s submission to the NMW Commission in September proposed an above inflation hike in 2025 to help workers cope with the rising costs of living. Minister of Employment and Labour, Makhosazana Meth’s plan to increase labour inspectors tenfold to 20 000 in the medium term will assist in ensuring employers comply with the NMW and needs to be expedited.
COSATU has noted with disdain efforts that seek to block the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act. In response, the Federation has resolved to formulate a Friends of the NHI to mobilise mass support to ensure the roll-out of the NHI is accelerated, and the goal of universal healthcare provision is achieved. The Federation will also develop campaigns to counter efforts to push back the implementation of the BELA Act in its entirety.
COSATU continues to lead critical engagements at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC). The Federation scored another victory for workers when it convinced government to agree to a package of labour law reforms that include increasing severance pay from one week to two weeks for every year of service going forward, enhancing the National Minimum Wage, strengthening the rights of atypical workers including enabling them to join a trade union and engage in collective bargaining, guaranteeing on-call workers a minimum number of shifts, and empowering labour inspectors to help enforce pension fund contribution compliance by employers.
The Federation successfully persuaded government to abandon the majority of offensive clauses that would have set workers’ rights back such as removing protections from dismissal for workers aged under 30 years and extending temporary employment contracts. Whilst welcoming these critical achievements, COSATU will continue to engage government and later Parliament, to ensure the remaining areas of disagreement are resolved and that workers’ hard-won rights are strengthened and not weakened.
COSATU successfully sought the intervention of Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy on behalf of the families of the 11 on duty fishermen who drowned while onboard a Sea Harvest Group fishing vessel in May. The families were aggrieved that the investigation by the South African Maritime Authority (SAMSA) into the deaths of their loved ones was taking long to finalise. SAMSA assured Minister Creecy and COSATU that the investigation would be released before end of 2024. Minister Creecy said preparations to establish a Marine Court of Enquiry into the accident were underway. The Federation is studying the report and keenly awaiting the start of the Marine Court of Enquiry.
Nine years after a rockfall at Lily Mine buried three workers underground, the mine is set to reopen under new ownership. Recovery of the bodies that are trapped underground will be prioritised as well as the hiring of unemployed mineworkers. In the first phase of the reopening, COSATU in collaboration with government will identify nearby villages around the mine; map out existing economic activities to connect to available jobs with the skills required; assess skills needs and support young people through training programmes.
The Federation hosted the Global South Exchange bringing together participants from trade unions across Africa and the Global South to engage on Climate Change and a Just Transition that prioritises the working class and the poor. As South Africa takes over the presidency and hosting of the G20 next year, COSATU will continue to push a progressive agenda that will benefit workers and the working class in the Global South and Africa in particular. The G20 includes the strategic labour platform, L20, offering a critical platform to advance demands on pressing issues such as poverty, inequality, sustainable development and Just Transition.
To affirm COSATU’s commitment to advancing workers’ rights and its role in the global labour movement, the Federation’s President Zingiswa Losi was elected to the International Labour Organisation’s Governing Body in June for the 2024 to 2027 duration. As a governing body member, President Losi will have the platform to influence important decisions that will shape labour policies worldwide. This role will enable her to represent the concerns of South African workers and ensure that their voices are heard in key international discussions. Her participation in the ILO will also strengthen the representation of African perspectives, women and our priorities in global labour standards.
The loss of veterans of the struggle including former ministers of labour and finance Tito Mboweni, Pravin Gordhan and Membathisi Mdladlana marked a particularly point low. These were followed by the passing on of the founding General Secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) Randall Van Der Heever and former Member of Parliament Onel De Beer.
COSATU celebrated its 39th anniversary on 1 December and marked almost four decades of defending and advancing workers’ and working-class communities rights and interests. As the Federation heads towards its 40th anniversary in 2025, it remains determined to wage working class battles and win.
The Federation wishes workers and their families well over the festive period. This is a time for workers to be at home with their families, to rest and prepare for the New Year. It is important that as we travel on the roads, we observe all laws and arrive alive. We should not allow our families to mourn loved ones prematurely. This includes avoiding excessive consumption of alcohol.
The year 2025 will present many challenges to the working class and the nation. We need to be ready to confront these and to ensure workers emerge better off. COSATU will continue to lead from the front in pursuit of uniting the working class, fixing the state, growing the economy and slashing unemployment.
Our victories scored over the course of 2024, give us hope and confidence that we will equally rise to the occasion during 2025.
Whilst much of the economy will shift towards the holidays, we must express solidarity and appreciation for workers who remain on duty, in particular our police, defence force, correctional services, health and other essential workers as well as the workers across the hospitality, agricultural, retail, transport, mining and other sectors of the economy. The nation is indebted to their sacrifices and service.