Comrades, Chairperson, NEC Members of SACCAWU, Shop Stewards, Leaders,
I bring you militant revolutionary greetings from the 1.5 million workers of COSATU. Greetings from farm workers in Limpopo, miners in the North West, teachers in the Eastern Cape, and retail workers in Cape Town who stand on their feet 10 hours a day for poverty wages.
We meet at a time of war. Not a war with guns, but a war on the working class. A war for profits. A war to break our unions. A war to casualise our future.
This Special NEC is called under the correct theme: “Consolidating Working Class Unity and Power for Total Emancipation.”
Let me be clear: Total emancipation means nothing less than economic freedom. It means a living wage. It means permanent jobs. It means dignity. It means the wealth of this country in the hands of the people.
SACCAWU has always been at the frontline of that fight. From the strikes of the 80s, to taking on retail giants today. COSATU stands with you, shoulder to shoulder.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHALLENGES FACING THE WORKING CLASS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Comrades, let us speak truth.
South Africa is bleeding. And it is workers who are bleeding the most.
Slow economic growth: For 10 years our GDP has crawled below 1%. Capital is sitting on billions, but they refuse to invest. They prefer speculation, dividends, and sending money offshore.
Unemployment: 43.7% expanded unemployment. Over 12 million people without work. For every 3 young people, 2 have no job. This is not unemployment. This is a social crisis.
Poverty and Inequality: South Africa remains the most unequal country on earth. The richest 10% own 71% of wealth. 27 million people live below the poverty line. While the bosses eat steak, our people eat hope.
Crime and Corruption: Corruption is not just in government. It is in procurement, in tenders, in the looting of municipalities. And crime is a direct result of poverty. You cannot have 60% youth unemployment and expect peace.

Struggling Public and Municipal Services: Clinics have no medicine. Schools have no books. Municipalities are bankrupt. Electricity cuts. Water cuts. And they tell us to pay more for less.
Rising cost of living: Food inflation. Fuel. Transport. Rent. A basket of food that cost R500 five years ago now costs R850. Wages have not moved. Workers are subsidising the crisis with their stomachs.
Global uncertainty: Wars, climate crisis, interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve. Capitalism is in crisis globally, and they export that crisis to us.
Comrades, this is not mismanagement. This is class war. The ruling class is choosing profits over people.

CHALLENGES FACING WORKERS IN THE RETAIL SECTOR
And SACCAWU comrades, you are at the coalface.
The retail sector employs over 1 million workers. It is the biggest private sector employer. But it is also the biggest site of exploitation.
Casualisation: Permanent jobs are being replaced with 3-month contracts, “temporary” workers who work for 10 years. No benefits. No security.
Outsourcing: Cleaning, security, shelf-packing. All outsourced to labour brokers so the big brands can say “not our workers.”
Wage suppression: At Pick ‘n Pay, Shoprite, Spar – workers earn R4,500 to R6,500. That is below a living wage. While CEOs take home R40 million a year.
Undermining collective bargaining: They refuse to bargain centrally. They push plant-level agreements to divide us. They use lockouts and intimidation.
Retrenchments: Automation of tills. Self-checkouts. “Click and Collect.” Thousands of jobs gone, with no retraining, no consultation.
Automation: They want robots to pack shelves and apps to deliver groceries. They want to replace human beings with algorithms.
Comrades, Pick ‘n Pay is not just a shop. It is a symbol. If we break the power of retail capital, we break the back of low-wage exploitation in this country.
SACCAWU must lead that fight. Militantly. On the ground. In every store.

CHALLENGES FACING WORKERS ACROSS THE WORLD
This is not only a South African fight.
Across the world, workers are under attack:
In the US, Amazon workers are fighting union-busting.
In the UK, nurses and rail workers are on strike for wages.
In Brazil, retail workers face the same casualisation.
In Palestine, workers face occupation and apartheid.
The same corporations operate globally. The same IMF and World Bank impose austerity. The same billionaires got richer during COVID.
But across the world, workers are also fighting back. General strikes in France. Mass protests in Argentina. We are not alone.
Our struggle is international. An injury to one is an injury to all.

THE NEED FOR A STRONG, UNITED, MILITANT ON THE GROUND SACCAWU
Comrades, what do we need now?
We need a SACCAWU that is on the shop floor every day. Not just in boardrooms.
We need a union that organises, that mobilises, that strikes when necessary. A union that members can see, can touch, can call at 2am when a manager is abusing them.
We need shop stewards who are leaders in their communities. Who link wage struggles to service delivery struggles. Who link the store to the street.
Weakness invites attack. Unity invites victory.
COSATU is behind you. We will put resources. We will put organisers. We will put our political weight behind SACCAWU’s campaigns.

NEED TO ORGANISE WORKERS ACROSS RETAIL, HOSPITALITY, AND NEW FORMS OF WORK
The bosses are changing. So must we.
We can no longer only organise the Pick ‘n Pay checkout. We must organise:
Uber Eats and Mr D drivers – who are called “independent contractors” but work like slaves Call centres – where young workers are monitored by software and paid peanuts SMMEs and spaza shops – where exploitation is worst and there is no union B&Bs, hotels, tourism – where seasonal work and tips replace wages Warehouses and logistics – the new backbone of retail
If we don’t organise them, capital will use them to undercut our members.
Organising the informal, the gig, the outsourced is not charity. It is survival. It is how we build working class power.

CHALLENGES FACING THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
Comrades, we must be honest about ourselves.
We are divided. Three federations. Too many small unions. Employers use this to play us against each other.
We have lost members to unemployment and casualisation.
We have a crisis of leadership in some unions due to corruption and careerism.
Our task: Rebuild unity. Rebuild shop floor power. Rebuild COSATU as the fighting federation.
CHALLENGES FACING THE LABOUR MOVEMENT ACROSS THE WORLD
Globally, union density is falling. 8% of workers in the private sector are unionised worldwide.
The gig economy is designed to destroy unions.
Trade agreements are designed to protect corporations, not workers.
Right-wing governments are undermining the right to strikes.
But there is also resurgence. Workers are rejecting neoliberalism.
Our lesson: Militancy works. Compromise without power gets us nothing.

CHALLENGES FACING THE TRIPARTITE ALLIANCE FROM A WORKING CLASS PERSPECTIVE
Comrades, let us speak plainly about the Alliance.
The ANC, SACP and COSATU were born in struggle but today the Alliance is under siege.
From a working class perspective:
Workers are poorer, but the policies are pro-business.
Unemployment rises, but we talk about “investor confidence.”
SOEs are facing massive debts but we bail out banks.
Corruption goes unpunished, while workers pay for it through VAT and fuel levies.
The working class feels betrayed. And if the Alliance does not deliver, the working class will look elsewhere. And the far-right and populists are waiting.
We are not in the Alliance to clap. We are in the Alliance to fight for a pro-worker program

NEED FOR THE TRIPARTITE ALLIANCE TO UNITE AHEAD OF NOVEMBER LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
Comrades, the 4th of November local government elections are around the corner, yet we have not begun campaigning whilst the opposition is on the ground.
If the Alliance goes into November divided, we will lose. And if we lose, the DA, Action SA, and the FF+ will run our towns. And they will privatize everything.
The Alliance must agree on a pro-poor manifesto: creating decent work, fixing municipal services and dealing with corruption.
COSATU will mobilize our members. SACCAWU must mobilize retail workers in every ward and workplace to support the Alliance at the ballot box.

PREPARATIONS FOR COSATU’S NATIONAL CONGRESS IN SEPTEMBER
In September we go to COSATU’s National Congress. This Congress must be about rebuilding unity in the Labour movement, the Theme of the congress Building a militant ,revolutionary Labour movement, strengthening anti-imperialist working class unity, to defend jobs and advance socialism,’’
Adopting a militant program of action: National strike against poverty, against job losses Electing leadership that will fight, not manage decline Taking a clear position: No to austerity. Yes to a National Health Insurance. Yes to a Basic Income Grant. Yes to public ownership of energy.
SACCAWU must come to that Congress organized and with progressive resolutions.

CONCLUSION
Comrades, let me close where I started: Total Emancipation.
Total emancipation will not be given to us. It will be taken. Through struggle. Through unity. Through power.
The bosses are organised. The billionaires are organised. The IMF is organised.
Workers must be more organised.
SACCAWU, COSATU is with you. 1 million retail and hospitality workers need you.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
Thank you, Comrades. Amandla!