Home

The number of unions affiliated to Cosatu declines: Report

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The number of unions affiliated to Cosatu has declined from 18 to 16, according to the union’s financial report.

The federation has been holding its 14th national conference at Midrand north of Johannesburg.

Cosatu says the decline in membership was as a result of mergers of some unions like LIMUSA – which merged with the NUM.

Cosatu National Treasurer Freda Oosthuysen says, “You will see that the membership of the affiliates has declined, there is no one affiliate that can say he or she remained stable during the period, especially between 2020/2021.

“It’s only now in 2022 that we are starting to see our membership is starting to get back. Also the issue of membership, you have membership in good standing and also membership not in good standing so you can’t add the two together and currently, we have three unions, not in good standing.”

Strained relations in the tripartite alliance came under the spotlight again at the congress.

SACP General-Secretary Solly Mapaila recently said it had become apparent that the ANC they are working with in government was not the same as the one they are working with in the alliance.

SACP’s Solly Mapaila addresses COSATU’s 14th National Elective Congress:

On Monday,  delegates of the national congress heckled and booed  ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe and blocked him from addressing them.

They accuse him and government of failing workers and of reneging on a 2018 wage agreement. Mapaila said the main task of the national congress is to roll back what he terms a neo-liberal agenda that the ANC government is pursuing.

 

Author

MOST READ