The 40th anniversary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a moment of international significance in the labour movement globally. For COSATU, as alliance partners to the governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), are truly the midwives who helped deliver South Africa’s democratic breakthrough and one of the most valuable custodians of our democracy.
The three most widely recognised legs of the anti-apartheid struggle are political mobilisation and organisation, armed resistance as waged by uMkhonto we Sizwe and Azanian People’s Liberation Army, and international pressure and sanctions, led by those in exile. It is in the first leg that COSATU, alongside the United Democratic Front (UDF), when the likes of ANC and Pan Africanist Party (PAC) were banned, played a crucial role in internal resistance. COSATU also led the crucial late 80s stay aways that proved a critical blow to the apartheid before the early 90s violence and the death of the South African Communist Party (SACP) secretary general Chris Hani proved the final nail in apartheid’s coffin.
The very formation of COSATU was an act of courage and sacrifice. Four years of intense negotiations to amalgamate 33 unions with the backdrop of apartheid government harassment and a state of emergency is no easy feat and it is one that culminated with the launch of COSATU in December 1985. Cosatu, literally and figuratively, kept the home fires burning when political parties were underground, and leaders were in prison and exile.
The transition to democracy and being an alliance partner was neither easy nor linear and has not always been kind to COSATU. By far the greatest contribution that COSATU made to the democratic dispensation was to bring about a right based, worker centred Labour relations framework.
The passage of the Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the creation of institution such as the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration [CCMA] and the National Economic and Development Labour Council (NEDLAC)- have been a critical pillar of SA’s democracy.
One of the early fights that COSATU lost, which remains a source of tension in the alliance, was the adoption of the Growth Employment and Redistribution policy as economic policy. COSATU lost the fight to an ANC backed by globalist capitalist narrative of what South Africa needed at the time and never fully recovered that ground but has held its ground on policy matters.
A crucial role that COSATU and the trade union movement played was the supply of quality leaders to serve in Commentary various parts of government and public service and even company boards. From Jay Naidoo, its former Secretary General who served in Nelson Mandela’s cabinet to Ebrahim Patel who served as Trade and Industry Minister for a decade.
The late John Gomomo, President at the time of transition to democracy, served as an MP and was central to the labour relations framework adoption. In the Western Cape, Tony Ehrenreich was recognised as a pivotal figure and social activist while COSATU Former President Willie Madisha served as MP for Congress of the People (Cope). One of the trends that Cosatu could not adequately respond to is the rising militancy of workers as a result of the Global Financial Crisis.
This led to the emergence of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) which became central to fights such as the Marikana strike, which escalated into violence, culminating in the deaths of 34 miners who were shot by police.
This led to a decline in trust and diminished the union’s influence within the labour movement. COSATU’s support for factions within the ANC, such as backing Jacob Zuma in 2007 and Cyril Ramaphosa in 2017, has contributed to the deep-seated divisions within the party. This support has often led to the sidelining of opposing factions, weakening the alliance and distracting it from its core mission of improving the lives of the working class.
The big Cosatu break-up post democracy, which led to the creation of the South African Federation of Trade Union (SAFTU) mirrors a post liberation trend evident in many democracies. The expulsion of the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa [NUMSA], Cosatu’s largest affiliate in 2014, after a long period of internal conflict and disagreements, particularly concerning NUMSA’s political alignment and its relationship within the governing ANC, contributed to further weakening of SA’s biggest labour federation.
COSATU and trade unions worldwide face systemic challenges. The casualisation of labour and rising mechanisation is leading to a decline in union numbers globally but is acutely felt in the Global South Union strength no longer lies in numbers but rather in policy articulation and advocacy, international mobilisation and broadening commentary beyond shopfloor or labour matters. Policy debates of the next decade, or even the next 40 years, will not be won through a show of numbers on the street or an ability to bring cities to a standstill.
They need strategically positioned members serving in parliament, cabinet, company boards and global structures such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) for worker voices to be heard. The current discourse around the future of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is an example of how COSATU must position itself in debates.
The Federation cannot defend the narrow benefit of an elite but at the same time cannot fail to recongise
that workers continue to benefit from Employee Share Ownership Scheme (ESOPS). Cosatu must thus fight forthe retention of Empowerment in a Broad-Based form. South Africa’s debate about the size, shape and cost of the public service is another that will test COSATU for trimming the wage bill may mean trimming numbers and a loss of members.
But for now, we must say Happy Birthday Cosatu, born at the height of struggle for democracy and grew up in time to help deliver and safeguard the democracy, may the next 40 years be better for you and workers of the world.
Letsoalo is former Politics Editor of the Mail & Guardian and current Executive Chairman of the K and K Media Group.
