Program director, deputy chair of the province

CEC members

Provincial office bearers

PEC

Alliance partners . SACP.SANCO, ANC

The premier of the province

YCL.ANCYL, Young workers of COSATU, GENDER STRUCTURES

International guests

Introduction

Comrades, we stand together at a crucial juncture, reflecting on the rich history and enduring struggles of COSATU as we approach our Provincial Congresses for 2025. At the end of this year, we will celebrate 40 years since the founding of this great Federation in December 1985. We are reminded of our relentless fight against racialised workplace exploitation and apartheid repression which we fought and defeated, as well as our continuous struggles to defend, uphold and advance the gains of our freedom.

From the early days of workers’ struggles against capitalism to the present, our journey has been marked by unwavering resilience and collective action. Marx and Engels noted that society is driven by class conflict, and that capitalism creates the conditions of its own downfall through the workers it exploits. As the working class becomes aware of their common exploitation and their collective power, they can organise and mobilise to overthrow the capitalist system and the bourgeoisie. The formation of trade unions world-over has always emanated from these contradictions under capitalism.

The formation of COSATU in 1985 was a defining moment, uniting trade union and community struggles into a powerful working-class force that played a pivotal role in the anti-apartheid movement. Despite the challenges posed by neoliberal policies post-1996, we have continued to push for transformative agendas and remain steadfast in our commitment to the working class.

Throughout its existence COSATU has defined its struggle as a struggle for national liberation, for democracy, women’s emancipation and for socialism. These objectives always remain connected and intertwined.

Capitalism and class formation in post-apartheid South Africa

In our analysis of the current conjuncture, we must recognise the ongoing class formation and its impact on our economy, politics, and state.

South Africa’s democratic transition solidified the dominance of monopoly capital, particularly in the mineral and energy sectors, which evolved into monopolistic financial institutions and banks, facilitated by government self-imposed trade liberalisation, allowing mining companies to shift their investments to European stocks.

The democratic transition produced a myriad of class formation and forms of accumulation, first with Afrikaner class formation through privatisation of SOEs, private education, private health and private security monopolies. The democratic dispensation also saw distinct forms of black class formation and accumulation through state mechanisms, initially through Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), allowing a few high-ranking individuals to acquire shares in financial, mining, and large companies, and further facilitated by GEAR through state contracts, known as ‘tender-preneurship’. This has evolved post 2007, in which political patronage, corruption, state capture, extortion, crime, and violence have become forms of class formation and accumulation for those excluded from BEE deals.

The 14th Congress political report describes the ANC’s programme of deracialisation of capitalism as creating “a parasitic bureaucratic bourgeoisie” dependent on the state, leading the state to become the site of accumulation for tender-preneurs through outsourcing and privatisation facilitated by a “triangular network” involving corrupt politicians and government officials, tender-preneurs, and leading personalities in ANC factions.

We require a class analysis of the post-apartheid political landscape, examining how electoral politics and parties like the ANC, DA, EFF, and MK party are intertwined with class formation and accumulation, recognising that these parties all represent capital in different forms.

Implications of the neoliberal agenda on the NDR and transformation

The ANC’s neoliberal trajectory, marked by the imposition of GEAR and the policies of subsequent ANC government administrations, has led to high unemployment, persistent poverty, and extreme inequality. We have seen the devastating effects of austerity measures on public services and social security, which impacts most severely on the working class.

The ANC’s governance has been marked by the contestation of class interests, often betraying the working class with its policy directives. The notable exception has been the implementation of progressive labour legislation and social security interventions, however capital responded to this unleashing an unprecedented restructuring with massive retrenchments, sub-contracting and casualisation.

Electoral support for the ANC has declined significantly, reflecting the people’s discontent with the current state of governance. In Gauteng, ANC support dropped from 50.19% in 2019 to 34.76% in 2024 amid health scandals like the Life Esidimeni disaster, poor service delivery, and collapsing infrastructure; in the Northern Cape, ANC support fell below 50% for the first time, with voters turning to parties like the EFF and the new Patriotic Alliance; the Western Cape saw the ANC unable to regain ground against the DA’s entrenched race-based governance due to internal divisions and failure to connect with working-class coloured communities; and in KwaZulu-Natal, ANC support plummeted from 54.22% to 17.62%, as ethno-nationalist parties like MKP and IFP capitalised on leadership weaknesses, even with trade union members and leaders in the province shifting their allegiances.

Despite maintaining reduced-margin electoral wins in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Northwest provinces, the ANC faces alarming political decline due to significant governance failures at both provincial and municipal levels, characterized by high levels of factionalism and political instability.

In the Eastern Cape, factions fighting for access to state coffers have reduced congresses to mere election machines, leading to a breakdown in municipal services and increased extortion rings and violence against women, such as in Mqhekezweni. The Free State suffers from leadership challenges and factionalism resulting in governance collapses in areas like Mangaung Metro and prolonged water crises in municipalities like Maluti-a-Phofung. Limpopo struggles with the aftermath of the VBS looting scandal, exposing corruption within political leadership and harming working-class communities. Mpumalanga faces economic crises due to the shutdown of coal operations and threats of closure by major employers like ArcelorMittal, compounded by leadership weaknesses and service delivery failures and municipalities failing to pay staff. There are pockets of MKP support in the province. The Northwest province experiences governance collapse due to prolonged ANC leadership issues, leading to significant service delivery failures and economic losses, exemplified by the Ditsobotla Municipality losing a major investment affecting in excess of 4000 jobs and failing to pay municipal workers due to financial mismanagement.

Comrades, all our provinces in which the ANC governs face significant challenges, especially in relation to governance failures, mismanagement and corruption in public services and the collapse of municipal services. We must learn from these performances in provinces and address the root causes of our challenges.

As we navigate the socio-economic landscape, it is evident that growth in South Africa remains pitifully low, with alarmingly high unemployment rates, particularly among women and youth. More than 13 million South Africans are unemployed, and about 30 million are living below the poverty line. The government’s misguided pursuit of austerity measures has only deepened our economic woes. Instead, we must prioritise growth and employment generation, support industrial policy, and expand social spending.

For COSATU and the SACP the democratic transition represented an opportunity for radical transformation of class, racial and gender oppression, which would lay the basis for socialism. However, this opportunity was squandered by the ANC, which derailed a radical NDR to pursue deracialised capitalism.

The State of the Alliance

The COSATU 14th Congress Political Report highlights the necessity for the working class to assert its influence and lead the charge in societal transformation, as no other class will champion its interests. The SACP and COSATU have long advocated for the Reconfiguration of the Alliance, a topic discussed at length at Alliance Summits, with efforts in this direction resurfacing during the 2024 election campaigns. Reconfiguring the Alliance isn’t just about regular meetings but about placing the interests of the working-class at the centre of Alliance policies and practice.

On the eve of the elections, the Alliance made principled agreements based on possible outcomes, emphasising the need for an Alliance programme. However, the ANC leadership clandestinely negotiated deals with the DA, an anti-worker, anti-poor, and white supremacist organisation funded by capital. Following the 29 May 2024 elections, the federation’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) met in June 2024, where they received a detailed report on the formation of the GNU by the ANC and collectively opposed the GNU. COSATU further asserted that we will continue to fight austerity and the neo-liberal agenda in government.

In light of these developments, COSATU must examine current contradictions, especially in relation to the NDR and the Alliance.

We also argue that the discussion on the Alliance must include an assessment of its constituent parts.

We need to evaluate COSATU, its affiliates and its organisational capacity to lead working class struggles. We must identify strategic tasks for rebuilding the Federation, its unions and uniting workers beyond COSATU.

We must also assess the state of the SACP and its ability to lead a socialist movement and a working-class campaign for local government elections in 2026.

Finally, the ANC’s recent election results show a significant loss of legitimacy, with only 16% support among voting-age South Africans. We also need to ask whether the ANC can effectively implement pro-working-class policies in the GNU when it did not do so for the last 30 years. We need to discuss whether a Reconfigured Alliance would restore trust between the ANC and the masses?

In recent developments, COSATU welcomed the commitments made by the State of the Nation Address on 6 February 2025, but remained concerned about the pace of implementation and expressed caution about whether the upcoming budget would adequately resource the stated commitments to address unemployment, poverty and the state of the economy.

COSATU CEC Rejects the GNU

On the eve of the elections, the Alliance met and made principled agreements based on possible election outcomes, highlighting the need for a commitment to an Alliance programme. Against this principle, the ANC went behind COSATU and the Party’s backs, negotiating clandestine deals with the DA, an anti-worker, anti-poor, and white supremacist organisation funded by capital.

For instance, following the 29 May 2024 elections, the federation convened a CEC meeting in June 2024, at which it received a detailed report regarding processes leading to the formation of the GNU by the ANC. The CEC reflected and noted their opposition to the GNU and the form which it took. The CEC noted that in engagements with the leadership of the ANC in the immediate aftermath of elections, it made its position clear, on a Minority Government as our preferred option, which would have provisions for issue specific agreements with different political parties in parliament.

In less than a year of the GNU, the DA has shown its true colours, joining a march with the white supremacist, ultra-right AfriForum in opposition to the BELA Act, as well as collaborating with AfriForum, BUSA, the medical council of SA, and medical aid schemes threatening litigation and spreading all kinds of propaganda against the NHI. Just this week, the same DA has gone to court to challenge the new Expropriation Act, which AfriForum falsely used to mobilise ultra-right President Trump. These GNU governance partners with the ANC have opposed every policy and legislation introduced to redress exclusionary legacies in education, healthcare, and land distribution.

Socioeconomic analysis

Global capitalism continues to see expansion of accumulation regimes beyond national boundaries, enmeshed billions around the world into the global capitalist economy. Yet, globalisation has not resolved the inherent contradictions of capitalism —but has magnified them on a global scale, with persistent crises of global capitalism and stalling economic growth globally over the last 5 years.

The return of the Trump Presidency signals a reemergence of ultra-right white supremacists in the West, led by the Trump administration, with support from white supremacist formations like Solidarity and AfriForum, who have taken aim at our government for taking apartheid Israeli state to the ICJ for genocide on Palestinians. We are already facing prospect of sanctions by President Trump, as part of broader shift to reshape global economic relations —increasing a push towards fragmentation, bilateral trade relations and trade wars, and protectionism. These will likely result in rising prices and companies restructuring their global supply chains. 

Growth in South Africa remains pitifully low after years of stagnation and decline. Worse-off, unemployment has been increasing over the years, with latest figures of 41,9 affecting more than 13 million people. South Africa’s unemployment disproportionately affect women and youths, with women experiencing significant rise in rates of unemployment from 39.9% (Q3 2014) to 45.7% (Q3 2024); while unemployment for men rose from 32.3% (Q3 2014) to 38.5% (Q3 2024). Youth unemployment grew from 48,8% (2014) to 60,2% (2024).

Yet, despite very low growth and high unemployment, government continues its misplaced pursuit of austerity measures. Instead of meeting peoples’ needs, it is prioritising reducing debt and reducing debt targets. Comrades, this is misplaced —South Africa does not have a debt problem, it has a growth problem. Austerity has decreased growth and therefore result in a higher debt-to-GDP ratio.

We believe government should instead prioritise growth and employment generation, support industrial policy and expand social spending. Instead of prioritising reducing spending, it should prioritise reducing the cost of borrowing through lowering interest rates, targeted capital controls and credit allocation policies.

The impact austerity measures is devastating for the working class, with social grant increases far below inflation; and spending per health care user in the public sector being reduced from R5 381 in 2023/24 to R4 864 in 2026/27. Also, the public sector wage bill has decreased from 35% to 31% of the budget – resulting in rising vacancies amongst doctors, nurses, teachers, police and other frontline workers, and civil servants.

Key Issues for the Working Class

Our key issues for workers and the working class are clear. We must resist the deepening neoliberal trajectory, defend collective bargaining, and fight for an alternative development path. COSATU and the SACP have been calling for a reconfigured alliance with the ANC to ensure that we advance the interests of the working class.

COSATU’s Medium Term Vision outlines our way forward. Building a strong Federation is essential. We must strengthen our political analysis and organisational programmes, prioritize political and ideological education, and train our shop stewards effectively. Our strategic tasks include recruiting and mobilising unorganised workers, rebuilding COSATU engines, fostering unity in action with other unions and federations, strengthening the socialist axis, and fighting for the renewal of the ANC.

We must also focus on key campaign priorities, such as increasing our membership, organising vulnerable workers, revitalising State-Owned Enterprises and fighting privatisation, advocating for National Health Insurance, eliminating Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Harassment, and ensuring a just transition for workers in high-carbon industries, particularly coal. This includes building awareness and taking action against capitalist destructiveness to the environment and the future of humanity.

Education is a cornerstone of our efforts. We must continuously build the political consciousness of our members and ensure that they are well-versed in the challenges facing the working class. Building COSATU Locals, establishing Provincial Education Committees and forging strong relationships with Labour Service Organisations will assist us in achieving our goals.

International situation

COSATU remains committed to advancing working-class internationalism and solidarity. In this light, we reaffirm our support behind the South African government and its honourable and conscientious stance it has taken internationally, taking the apartheid Israeli state to the ICJ for a case on genocide committed by the IDF on Palestinians in Gaza. We also reiterate our support for South Africa’s position on the NATO-sponsored Ukraine-Russia conflict. We affirm that the future of South Africa, the future of the global South lies in multipolarism globally represented in the BRICS+ mechanism. We note, growing offensive by the US President against South Africa, based on misinformation, peddled by racist and right-wing interests groups, as well as threats seeking to make our government a pliant servant of the West.

Comrades, COSATU actively participates in global, African, and regional trade union structures, and we stand in solidarity with struggles for democracy, human rights, and progressive development worldwide. Our engagement in international solidarity work, particularly in Palestine, Eswatini, and Cuba, underscores our commitment to justice and equality.

To further advance our international work, we propose the establishment of a COSATU Provincial Forum on International Relations. This forum will coordinate and deepen our efforts in working-class internationalism, consciousness, and solidarity.

Comrades, our struggle is far from over, but together, we can build a more just and equitable society. Let us continue to fight for a world where workers’ rights are upheld, where the working class is empowered, and where our collective efforts lead to transformative change. Solidarity forever!

I want to conclude this province has capacity to unite workers and deliver the mandate of this congress to all workers of this province , all workers who are facing challenges in this province must be contacted and be helped by this leadership, all those municipalities who are not paying workers including the municipality called Mantlhakga  must face the music , workers must feel at home under COSATU.

On behalf of the CEC, we wish this congress a fruitful discussion and successful congress, this congress is not about election only, is about make sure that the federation respond to all challenges of workers.