The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is set to honour 40 women leaders to mark 40 years of its existence. The COSATU Women’s Herstories Project, whichprofiles the lives of women trade unionists and activists who shaped our movement over the last four decades, will be launched today, 4 November, at the Holiday Inn Johannesburg Airport.
Founded on 1 December 1985, COSATU brought together 33 competing unions and federations strongly opposed to apartheid but committed to a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa. Throughout, women have been an integral part of the Federation; building unions, leading strikes, challenging patriarchy on the shopfloor and at home, and in the trade union movement. With this project, COSATU pays homage to their struggles, courage, victories, resilience and voices that tell the story of the organisation’s past while inspiring its future.
The Herstories Project features profiles of heroines like Emma Mashinini, who in the lead up to the launch of COSATU objected to the Federation’s proposed logo by pointing out it did not include any women. Today, 40 years later, the woman with the baby on her back in COSATU’s logo still exemplifies Mashinini’s courage to voice out her convictions.
The project, however, doesn’t just signify the past but also gives a nod to the present seeing COSATU President, Zingiswa Losi, and National Treasurer, Freda Oosthuysen, are both women. They stand firmly on the shoulders of women leaders who came before them; Dr Connie September – COSATU’s first woman 2nd Deputy President; Joyce Pekani, Violet Seboni and Louise Thipe all held the role of COSATU 2nd Deputy President at different points in time. Losi is set to give the opening address at the Herstories launch, while Dr September will provide a historical reflection on women’s participation during COSATU’s 40-year existence.
The launch is a culmination of work that began in 2022 in collaboration with the Naledi Research Institute and the Wits History Project – which trained the 35 young women who interviewed the women leaders on research. The young women hail from various Affiliates and structures of COSATU and it was imperative that they not only learn about the history of the Federation through reading but hear the stories firsthand from the women leaders who were part of the activism.
An important lesson was learned during the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Durban Strikes in 2023; when the history was told the women’s activism was effectively erased even though they had contributed significantly more than the men in terms of coordination, participation and underground work. This is why it is critical that the biographies of these 40 women leaders are documented as COSATU celebrates its 40th anniversary to guard against the erasure of women’s contribution to the workers’ struggle.
This is the first batch of 40 women for 40 yearsthat are being celebrated. The legacies of many more women will be documented in subsequent phases of this project, which is a living archive and an ongoing process. Hopefully, today’s launch will make the project visible, enabling more women leaders to come forward for interviews, enabling more stories to be told.
The forty women celebrated today represent thousands more women in factories, hospitals, farms, offices, schools, and homes who organised, resisted, and built this movement. In the same breath, it is important to recognise that women still face ongoing challenges from unfair discrimination to sexual violence and harassment in the workplace and society.
In addition to the biographies, the Herstories Project also features a photographic exhibition that includes women leaders from the Tripartite Alliance. The launch also kickstarts a four-day Transformative Leadership Feminist School that will see delegates exposed to various feminist theories.
Issued by COSATU
Zanele Sabela (National Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639
Email: zaneles@cosatu.org.za