• Our hosts of the 2026 BRICS Trade Union Forum in India,
• Special Guests, particularly the Minister of Employment and Labour of India and your team, 
• Delegates from BRICS member states and trade unions,
• Fellow delegates from SA and our continent, Africa as a whole,

Dear Comrades and friends,

It is our honour and privilege to be invited to this historic moment, the 15th version of the BTUF hosted in this highly symbolic city of Hyderabad.

 SA and India – shared history, legacy and struggle

The South African working class has a proud and deeply shared history, experiences and traditions with the Indian working class. Not only were we both colonized by the British, but we shared common trenches in our struggles for liberation and independence across the two continents. We were together part of the Tri-Continental movement, born in Bandung in 1955 that became the Global Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which became the main coordinator of the Global anti-colonial movement.

Further, we together suffered amongst the biggest mineral resources extraction by the colonial regime, particularly gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources. To that end, our strong and militant trade union traditions are a testimony of these deep-rooted struggles and legacies.

We are deeply anti-imperialist, deeply anti-capitalist, deeply anti-sexism, deeply anti-racism and deeply anti-class oppression and exploitation. Today the world is living through a period of profound political and economic changes, with war as the main defining feature of imperialism and capitalism.

 We reject war imperialism and call for an end to all conflicts for peace, justice and development

The war is a result of the desperation by forces of the old order resisting transformation of global power to include the Global South in the architecture of the global power system.

Africa, Asia and Latin America can no longer be spectators on matters of global decision-making and allocation of global resources. This is the crux of the matter, hence the foundational basis of the birth of BRICS, the struggle for a balanced, just, inclusive and equitable world order. The post second world order has become dormant and unable to resolve the most pressing matters facing humanity and our planet.

From rampant environmental destruction to vicious looting of our natural resources, to huge concentration of resources in the hands of a few to the exclusion of billions of hungry people all over the world, these can no longer be ignored.

 SA and the profound processes of change

In our own country, South Africa, we are living through a profound process of change. We are transforming our economy and society from apartheid concentration to democratic participation by all the people, workers, and women in particular. But we are meeting fierce resistance from the privileged and racist forces that have constituted themselves into what is now known as the SA MAGA  (Make Apartheid Great Again) movement. These are the most racist and sexist forces opposed to transformation and have found resonance with the US racist establishment led by THE US MAGA movement.

We are determined to push through a new phase of social justice, equality and democratic ownership of our means of production. From land redistribution to a just national health insurance and equal access to education for all our people. This includes fighting for Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Employment Equity to address the racist, sexist and untransformed economy. 

The SA labour market is still skewed in favour of white males, assigning the black majority to a second-tier sphere of cheap, unprotected and unskilled jobs. This reproduces inequalities and poverty. 

We further continue to play our key role in advancing international solidarity with all oppressed people, particularly the people of Palestine and most of our own continent, including Sudan and the DRC. The apartheid state of Israel poses the biggest threat to global peace and security and the crimes of genocide cannot be ignored by peace loving humanity.

The biggest issue we face on our own continent is underdevelopment and lack of Industrialisation and jobs. This means we ship out our raw material for processing outside our continent and get back finished products at exorbitant rates. This is not sustainable and developmental for our people. We seek to process our natural resources on our own continent. We are as eager to develop our value chains under the auspices of the ACFTA, as we are to ensure decent work, workers’ rights and inclusive growth for all. This is an imperative of our development trajectory.

We continue to defend jobs, fight retrenchments and ensure a state capable of driving incisive development for our people. Youth unemployment and inadequate skills are amongst the biggest threats to our country’s stability and progress.

 Tasks of the 15th BRICS Trade Unions Forum

We reaffirm the commitments made by previous BRICS Trade Union Forums, including the 2023 Declaration in the city of Ethekwini in SA, the Russian Declaration and the Brazilian declaration, as we look forward to concrete outcomes of this important Summit to finalise the new declaration and new tasks. 

We are hoping that next year’s BRICS in China, to be followed by the SA version the year after shall mark a qualitative change in the work, focus and strategic role of this important forum. We once again, reiterate that we welcome our new members and partners of the BRICS family. The growth of BRICS is a milestone in the growth of a new multipolar world, marked by diversity and inclusive models of human existence. 

Africa is ready to play its part in ensuring that the new world is indeed inclusive and just for all humanity. 

On behalf of the SA delegation, we extend our sincere appreciation to our hosts for the excellent organisation of this historic event and affirm its success as part of taking forward the spirit and aims of BRICS and the Trade Union Forum as locomotives of the futures we are together building. 

The idea of a BRICS Trade Union International Solidarity and Development Fund, still remains as important as when it was proposed to exchange ideas, share experiences and build bridges of equitable resource sharing and build innovation hubs. 

In the same way we call for the further strengthening of the BRICS Trade Union Forum Research and Policy Centre* to enhance joint research and policy development on matters of key interest between our countries and unions.

Finally, we reaffirm our shared commitment for a better coordination mechanism in the ILO and in key global platforms* for the workers and people of the BRICS family.