The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address’ progressive commitments. Whilst appreciating the many dire socio-economic challenges facing society and the working class, in particular, there are important green shoots that have been achieved in the past few years as part of the African National Congress led government’s renewal efforts.

COSATU applauds the tireless efforts of the workers at Eskom and our municipalities who have ensured that we have turned the tide on the once debilitating loadshedding that threatened to collapse the economy.  Interventions to ensure electricity becomes affordable for consumers and the economy must be expedited, including tackling Eskom and municipal financial leakages and moving all customers to prepaid billing.

The stabilisation and recovery of Transnet and Metro Rail over the past few years have provided welcome relief for thousands of jobs in the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors as well as offering a fast, safe and cheap means of transport for workers in our cities.  More must be done to restore our railway network and ports to their full capacity. The mining rights application system’s overhaul must be rolled out this year to mobilise badly needed investment and jobs in this industrial backbone of the economy.

We remain deeply concerned by the state of key State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), in particular Denel, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the Post Office and Postbank. They require competent management and the deployment of progressive turnaround plans with the necessary support from the state. Best wishes are not a plan. Their executives must deliver or be replaced by those who can. 

The state of local government is extremely worrying with 70% experiencing financial distress, municipal services deteriorating in both rural towns and cities, and many routinely failing to pay staff salaries and third-party deductions.  An aggressive set of interventions is urgently needed to stabilise and capacitate embattled municipalities, including the finalisation of the White Paper and a new municipal financing model.

An urgent plan of action is needed to tackle the water and sanitation crisis affecting many communities. This needs to include fixing and investing in water infrastructure, conservation, and recycling. This cannot be left to municipalities alone. The developmental finance institutions (DFIs) must be enlisted to help address the water infrastructure backlog.

The levels of crime, in particular violent and gender-based, corruption, infrastructure sabotage, gangs and syndicates are unacceptable and must be met with the full force of the state. It requires, as done so successfully during COVID-19, a bold plan led by the President, mobilising every possible public and private resource, and enlisting the support of society.  The South African Police Service, National Prosecuting Authority, the Judiciary and the South African National Defence Force must be provided with the necessary overhauling and cleansing, decisive leadership, personnel, resources and political will. This must include cleaning up public procurement.  We will not attract the investment needed to grow the economy and create jobs unless we win this war.  Nor should society be expected to tolerate such levels of criminality.

Government must drive a bold stimulus package from the fiscus, DFIs and the private sector to make capital accessible and affordable for SMMEs, infrastructure, industrial and export sectors to drive economic growth to the 3% plus needed to tackle unemployment.  We cannot afford to continue to limp along 1% growth nor normalise 42.4% unemployment.  Local procurement and labour must be at the heart of this drive.  Efforts to expand trade opportunities and protect local industries and jobs must be accelerated.

The Presidential Employment Stimulus has provided invaluable skills, experience, confidence and a minimum wage to millions of young people.  It must be ramped up to at least 1 million participants by 1 April and 2 million by November 2026. Tackling unemployment must be our singular national priority.  The SRD Grants must be made accessible to all unemployed persons, raised to the Food Poverty Line and its participants included in skills training programmes and job opportunities.  The pathway to universal healthcare through the rolling out of the National Health Insurance must be defended and laid.

COSATU commends the outstanding achievements of the employees of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) who have not only cleansed this key state institution of the demons of state capture and corruption but ensured that it has raised tax compliance from 61% to 67% over the past few years.  SARS must be given the resources and mandate to raise tax compliance to 75% by 2029 and thus generating R200 billion in taxes owed to the state and needed to enable it to fulfill its constitutional, transformational and developmental mandate. 

Whilst appreciating the important strides made by President Ramaphosa’s administrations to undo the damage inflicted during the decade of state capture and corruption and that the full benefits of these turnarounds are still to be felt, it is critical that government move with much greater speed to ensure their full implementation.  It is equally fundamental that the 2026/27 Budget speak to these commitments and ensure that the public services, local government as well as SOEs are well resourced and capacitated to deliver the services that the working class, society and the economy depend upon. 

The President and Parliament must hold the executive and administration accountable at all levels to deliver upon these promises to the nation and that those who cannot honour these obligations, be replaced. COSATU will work closely with and hold accountable our partners in the Tripartite Alliance and Nedlac, government and Parliament to ensure these commitments are actioned.

Issued by COSATU

Matthew Parks (COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator)
Mobile: 082 785 0687
Email: matthew@cosatu.org.za