Programme Director,
Leadership of the mighty Federation of Elijah Barayi,
President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa and leadership of the African National Congress,
General Secretary Solly Mapaila and leadership of the South African Communist Party,
President Richard Mkhungo and the leadership of SANCO,
Most importantly the membership of COSATU and workers across South Africa,
Thank you for joining us in this historic celebration of your Federation. 40 years is no small feat. This is a giant that has stood the test of time. It is the product of generations of struggles from the South African Congress of Trade Unions to COSATU, from the African Mineworkers strike of 1946 to the Durban Strike of 1973.
As we gather today, we remember and honour those heroes who made this COSATU possible, Vuyisile Mini, Neil Aggett, Dora Tamana, Ray Alexander, Nana Abrahams and so many others. We stand upon their shoulders today.
These were not peace time heroes content to type meaningless slogans on social media. These stalwarts of the liberation struggle stood in the face of the most brutal force that the apartheid regime could unleash, and never did they falter.
Some today doubt what has COSATU achieved! It was this COSATU founded by the Elijay Barayi and Jay Naidoo that defied the apartheid regime at its peak in 1985. It was this COSATU that never feared vigilantes or even the bombing of COSATU.
It was COSATU and its predecessors that were formed by workers on our mines, in our clothing factories and on our farms, to give dignity to workers, Black, Coloured, Indian and women, to ensure that all workers could live as equals in a free South Africa.
Today we are celebrating 31 years of a democratic non-racial South Africa. Today we are governed by a Constitution respected across the world, based upon the eloquent vision of the Freedom Charter of a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it, Black and White.
The laws that protect the millions of workers today, are the products of your struggles, the sweat and sacrifices of millions led by Oscar Mpetha and Mark Shope.
The freedom to unionise and collective bargaining are guaranteed by the Labour Relations Act, but we dare not let down our guard when some employers, in the public and private sectors, who undermine workers’ hard-won rights.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act guarantees workers’ paid maternity and parental leave, time off and public holidays. But all too often we see waitresses and cleaners forced to work long hours with no extra compensation.
We are a nation battling to overcome 350 years of the most brutal forms of colonial and apartheid rule. Whilst the Employment Equity Act bans discrimination at our workplaces, we remain a society where 60% of senior management posts in the private sector are held by white men and some see nothing wrong with this.
Workers now have the right to work in a safe environment and to compensation for workplace injuries or illnesses. Mineworker deaths at work have fallen from 484 in 1994 to 42 in 2024, because of the tireless efforts of the National Union of Mineworkers. The 34 workers who died at the George construction site and the 11 Sea Harvest fishermen who drowned are a painful reminder of how far we still have to go.
Whilst we have made great strides since 1994, much more remains to be done. It is not acceptable when workers are in desperate need of their unemployment or compensation relief, that they are made to queue for days on end. This must be fixed now.
In 2019, the National Minimum Wage, a demand of the Freedom Charter became a reality, raising the wages of more than 6 million farm, domestic, construction and other vulnerable workers. Whilst our critics spent time insulting us, we remember that it was our ANC government that stood with us to make this call come true.
We have made great strides advancing the rights of workers, but more must be done to protect these hard-won victories, including ensuring the CCMA has the resources to defend workers abused by employers.
We remain a Federation guided by the scientific principles of socialism and are heartened that despite the power of capital, step by step we are building a society guided by the principles of solidarity and equality.
Today the National Health Insurance Act has been signed into law, laying the path for universal healthcare. Today 8 million unemployed people receive the SRD Grant, a foundation for a Basic Income Grant.
Whilst we have won many battles, we cannot celebrate when four out of ten South Africans cannot find work. This is a ticking time bomb that requires all of government, the private sector and society to defeat.
It demands a well-resourced state capable of providing the public and municipal services that the working class and the economy depend upon to survive and thrive.
It necessitates a bold and progressive budget that invests in economic infrastructure, supports SMMEs and industrialisation, stimulates inclusive growth and provides employment opportunities for the 12 million unemployed.
It requires a budget that invests in working class communities, provides young people and workers the skills required not only by the jobs of today but of the future. It requires well-run hospitals and properly equipped police stations.
There is no short cut to a growing economy and a prosperous society. Neo-liberalism is a recipe for stagnation not a path to growth. These difficult times require the working class to defend the state’s role, the need for public services and the transformation path.
COSATU is a Federation that is not afraid to be led by women, the generations of Gertrude Shope and Connie September are testimony to the power of women.
When COSATU was founded in 1985, women were already leading – in factories, farms, hospitals, classrooms, and communities.
They formed women’s forums, fought for maternity rights, challenged sexual harassment, and demanded equality in leadership.
Comrades like Emma Mashinini, Maggie Magubane, Refiloe Ndzuta, Violet Seboni, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, and Connie September paved the way for us.
They taught us that the struggle of women workers is not separate – it is the struggle for justice itself.
When COSATU was launched in 1985, the first draft of the Federation’s logo was circulated.
It showed men – strong, proud, marching workers – but not a single woman.
Comrade Emma Mashinini and other women delegates immediately raised their voices. They said:
“It cannot be that we have a logo that does not depict women. We are part of this movement – we are part of the struggle.”
Because of that intervention, the COSATU logo was redesigned – and today it proudly includes a woman with a baby on her back, representing both women’s role in paid work and in unpaid care work.
That image tells a story: that working-class women carry not only tools, but also children; not only production, but reproduction; not only struggle, but care.
That is the essence of feminist trade unionism – and it started right there, at our founding moment.
It is this Federation that worked day and night to ensure our labour and our criminal laws are overhauled to protect the rights of our daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. This battle against gender-based violence requires all of us as shop stewards, workers and leaders, say enough is enough, hands off our girls and women. No more!
We have achieved many victories that have improved the lives of millions, because of you, the cashier at Shoprite, the domestic worker in Sandton, the mine worker in Orkney.
We are proud of NEHAWU, DENOSA, SAMATU, PAWUSA and SAEPU for defending the rights of workers at our hospitals and demanding all frontline vacancies be filled.
We are humbled by the sacrifices of SADTU members teaching our children, POPCRU members defending our communities, and SAMWU members keeping our streets clean.
We honour the members of NUM who keep Eskom working, SATAWU members who drive our trains and run our ports, SASBO who have made our banking industry one of the world’s best, SACCAWU members who run our stores and SACTWU members who turned around a clothing industry that was on its knees.
We stand with CWU members at the Post Office who have seen jobs shed, AFADWU members struggling to protect farm workers, CEPPWAWU members exposed to dangerous chemicals in our factories.
We celebrate the launch of SADSAWU and SATDWU and will walk this journey with them as they defend the rights of domestic and taxi workers. No worker must be left behind.
We are proud that this humble giant called today celebrates its 40th anniversary here in Dobsonville, not far from Chiawelo, birthplace of the President of the Republic and a founder of COSATU, Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa.
COSATU remains guided by the call of one industry, one union, one country, one federation. We continue to work closely with our sister federations at Nedlac and beyond.
As we head to our Congress in September, our arms and our hearts are open to NUMSA, FAWU, SAFPU and all who left COSATU. It is time to come home to your Federation.
Our strength is our unity, when we are united, we can never be defeated. When we are divided, we will battle to be victorious.
Our struggles over these past forty years has been a journey where we stood shoulder by shoulder with our Alliance Partners, the ANC, the SACP and SANCO. Together we defeated the apartheid regime and built this proud democracy.
We love the ANC of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo. We love the SACP of Joe Slovo and Chris Hani. We need them as we face painful socio-economic challenges, as some at home and abroad seek to undermine our hard-won democracy and transformation path.
COSATU’s Central Committee in September was unambiguous. The Alliance is sacrosanct. Our unity can never be abandoned. It is critical that the issues that distract us be resolved and the Alliance is united.
We are heading towards our most difficult local elections in a year. Victory for the masses of our people, requires an Alliance that is coherent and united. Our task, as this Federation of JB Marks and John Gomomo, is to ensure the Alliance is united and wins these elections with an outright majority.
We have been humbled by the solidarity and support we received from workers across the world during our darkest days, from the young Cuban volunteers in Angola, to the families in Lesotho, Mozambique, Zambia and many others who gave us shelter. Today we extend that solidarity to the people of Palestine, Western Sahara, eSwatini, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Sudan. Our freedom remains forever intertwined.
2025 has been a year in which South Africa’s young democracy has been tested. We are proud of how we have stood together as a nation when some have sought to spread lies about our young nation. But we must not be complacent. Where we have faltered, we must be honest, where we must do more, we must act.
We must not take this non-racial, non-sexist democracy as envisaged by the Freedom Charter for granted. We must collectively work together to make it a living reality for all our people, from the young girl on the wine farms of Upington, to the nurse at Chris Hani Baragwanath, to the soldier on duty at Mussina and the coal miner at Kriel.
We have come far through this giant called COSATU over these past forty years, our journey is not over, much remains to be done. We dare not and will not fail.
Thank you. COSATU lives, COSATU leads! Amandla!