COSATU Accuses Ramaphosa and Parliament of ‘Blueticking’ GBVF Legislation

by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News

Johannesburg – The Congress of South African Trade Unions has expressed extreme dismay at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of members to the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, saying the process ignored clear legal requirements for the inclusion of labour and business representatives.
COSATU noted that the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Act of 2024 specifically calls for representatives from business and labour to form part of the Council. This did not happen. Highly experienced gender rights activists from the labour movement had been nominated to Parliament, yet none were appointed. The federation said this failure was formally raised with the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, which handled the selection process, but no response was received.

Exclusion of Labour and Business Representatives

The Act establishes the Council as a statutory body to provide strategic leadership in eliminating gender-based violence and femicide. It must coordinate a multi-sectoral and inter-sectoral approach to implement the national strategy on GBVF at national, provincial and local levels. The Board is limited to no more than 15 members. Seven of these must come from civil society and the private sector. Civil society is defined in the law to include non-governmental organisations, labour, and structures that represent citizens’ interests in the field of gender-based violence and femicide. Government departments also nominate representatives of a certain rank.
President Ramaphosa appointed the members for a three-year term from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2029. Dr Ramalepe Lebogang Mathibe was designated chairperson and Ms Welheminah R. (Shoki) Tshabalala deputy chairperson. The other members are Ms Keitumetse Fatimata Moutloatse, Ms Caroline Peters, Dr Zubeda Dangor, Ms Vuyisiwe Numalo, Mr Anele Siswana and Mr TWM Limema.
COSATU argued that the absence of organised labour and business leaves a critical gap. “We cannot allow the state to bluetick its own legislation and their legally binding provisions,” the federation stated.

Workplace Gender-Based Violence Must Sit at the Centre

Gender-based violence and femicide is not an abstract issue, COSATU stressed. It is the lived reality of the cashier at a supermarket harassed by customers, the daily abuse faced by cleaners who fear their own colleagues, and the nightmare of young women across workplaces who are told they will only be appointed if they sleep with the boss.
Workplace trauma linked to GBVF needs to sit at the centre of the Council’s work. The federation said the Council requires the active collaboration of partners in organised labour and business if it is to meet its important objectives and progressive mandate. Without that partnership, the body risks falling short of the multi-sectoral approach the law itself demands.

Long Delays and a National Crisis

The Council’s establishment has been years in the making. The enabling Act was signed in 2024 after earlier commitments dating back to the 2018 Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide. Delays stretched through 2025 as concerns over funding, vetting and process arose in Parliament. President Ramaphosa himself previously expressed disappointment at the slow progress, noting that the Council was meant to drive down incidents of gender-based violence and that due processes had taken an inordinately long time.
Gender-based violence and femicide was later classified as a national disaster. This classification was intended to unlock stronger coordination, faster resource allocation, expanded survivor support, and better monitoring. The new Council is expected to build on that classification by challenging harmful attitudes, advancing women’s economic empowerment, strengthening law enforcement and scaling up survivor-centred services. Its term begins at the start of Women’s Month.
COSATU described Parliament’s handling of the simple but critical task of including labour and business as a tragedy. The federation said it will engage the Presidency and Parliament’s Presiding Officers to request intervention so that the legal requirements are met.
The Council is mandated to develop an action plan within six months of its establishment for implementing the national strategy. Whether it can deliver meaningful results without the full partnership of labour and business will now be closely watched by those who experience gender-based violence daily in homes, communities and workplaces across South Africa.

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Source: https://centralnews.co.za/cosatu-accuses-ramaphosa-and-parliament-of-blueticking-gbvf-legislation/

Another labour dispute disrupts Pikitup’s Roodepoort depot

by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News

Pikitup, still behind schedule from last week’s Samwu strike, is yet again stranded, due to protests, this time from casual workers.

Casual workers piled refuse in front of the Roodepoort Depot’s gates. Photo: Johan Meyer

Operations at Pikitup’s Roodepoort Depot have once again ground to a halt, this time due to industrial action by casual workers, just days after an unrelated labour dispute disrupted refuse collection across Johannesburg.

When the Roodepoort Record visited the depot on Monday, August 3, a small group of casual workers were unloading refuse from a trailer and piling it in front of the entrance gate on Granville Avenue in Lea Glen.

This is the second consecutive week that the entity has been unable to operate at full capacity.

• Also read: Pikitup workers trash Roodepoort CBD

The latest disruption follows last week’s unprotected industrial action by members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), which the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) said affected operations after workers attended an unauthorised general meeting and marched to City of Johannesburg offices. The union demanded a meeting with the city manager, the lifting of precautionary suspensions against some of its shop stewards and the implementation of the R10.3b politically facilitated wage agreement.

The Record sent questions to Samwu regional secretary Thobani Nkosi via WhatsApp on July 30, requesting comment on the industrial action. At the time of publication, no response had been received. Phone calls also went unanswered.

Responding to the Record on August 3, CoJ spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane confirmed that the industrial action undertaken by Samwu members was unauthorised and that none of the required processes for such a meeting had been followed by the union.

Modingoane added that the CoJ is enforcing its ‘no work, no pay’ policy against employees who participated in the action.

“The City also reserves the right to discipline staff who have taken part in the unlawful action and has applied for an interdict against Samwu,” he said.

The latest disruption also follows recent service interruptions caused by contractors withholding services over unpaid invoices.

Responding to a previous media enquiry, Pikitup spokesperson Anthony Selepe told the Record on July 31 that the service disruptions were caused by cash flow challenges experienced by both the entity and the City of Johannesburg.

The Record spoke to striking casual workers at the depot on August 3, who claimed they have been at loggerheads with Pikitup since June 2024, when the entity allegedly cancelled the recruitment process for 400 workers.

“We applied for the advertised positions, went for interviews and even medical exams, only to be told the positions had been cancelled,” said Themba Magoda, who has been collecting refuse on a casual basis since 2019.

“We are told by the entity that there is no money to employ us permanently. We don’t accept this excuse because it only makes sense that using a contractor is more expensive than having your own workforce.”

The Record sent a media enquiry to Pikitup via WhatsApp and email on August 3, requesting comment by 16:00 on the casual workers’ claims, the reason for the reported cancellation of the recruitment process, and the impact of the protest on operations.

At the time of going to print, no response had been received.

Source: https://www.citizen.co.za/roodepoort-record/news-headlines/local-municipal-news/2026/08/04/another-labour-dispute-disrupts-pikitups-roodepoort-depot/

Parly’s Committee defends appointment of National Council on GBVF

by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News

From over 400 applications, the portfolio committee says only a few were from formal business organisations.

Hundreds of women gathered at the Union Building lawns in Pretoria on 21 November 2025 in protest against gender-based violence. Picture: Jacques Nelles/EWN

Former workers bring operations to a standstill at Giyani Water Plant

by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News

The Giyani Water Project in Limpopo.
Image Credits : SABC News

Construction on phase three of the delayed Giyani Water Project has come to a standstill after former workers closed the water plant.

The former workers, whose contracts ended in June, say that have not been paid for the past seven months.

The multi-million-rand project, managed by Lepelle Northern Water, was originally expected to be concluded in 2014, but is yet to be completed.

The contractor, Muteo Consultancy and Lepelle Northern Water, are yet to comment.

Spokesperson of the former workers, Shadrack Mabaso, says, “The reason we embarked on a strike and closed the site is because of our unpaid invoices. I’m not talking about one month payment. I’m talking about six, seven months payment that is still outstanding. I’m talking of payments that have been outstanding from 2024, 2025, and now it’s 2026. We have been not extended our contract, but when we inquire about our money, we are not being paid that money. We are being promised, we are busy with it, we are busy with it. You can’t be busy with someone’s seven months salaries.”

Source: https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/former-workers-bring-operations-to-a-standstill-at-giyani-water-plant/

Cosatu’s call for action: solutions for South Africa’s economic crisis

by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News

At the upcoming national congress, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will unite workers from across the country to confront the pressing economic challenges facing the working class, including the soaring cost of living and rising unemployment.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / IOL

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will soon hold its national congress where workers from Mitchells Plain to Mussina, from farms to mines, hospitals and schools, will gather to assess the state of the economy and its impact upon the working class.

Most importantly, they will craft campaigns on what must be done to tackle the many socio-economic crises facing the working class, especially the rising cost of living.

2026 has since seen inflation jump to 5%, largely due to massive fuel hikes resulting from the Middle East war (25% for petrol and 50% for diesel) with a projected further R2 per litre of diesel hike expected.

Whilst the fundamental solutions to ease the crises of the rising cost of living facing workers, is to grow the economy and create decent jobs, much can and must be done in the short, medium and long term.

Many key interventions take time for their effects to be fully felt, something a country facing the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality; simply cannot wait for.

Government led by the African National Congress (ANC) did well to provide R18 billion relief to struggling commuters by suspending the fuel levy for several months when the war broke out.  This act helped stave off inflation.  Reintroducing such relief should be pursued as long as international oil and fuel prices remain so high.

Government needs to honour a commitment it first made in 2018, to review and ultimately reduce the third of the fuel prices that go towards taxes.  This will free cash in workers’ pockets and release stimulus into the economy.

Metro Rail will soon be raising fares by amounts above inflation.  Yet it remains far cheaper, faster and safer than other transportation.  More support needs to be given to Metro Rail to modernise its lines, roll out signals enabling trains to travel faster, reopen the remaining closed lines and expand routes.

This will save commuters scarce money, ease road congestion, reduce maintenance costs and insulate much of the country from oil price hikes shocks.

Greater public investment and support are needed for busses and taxis who provide a critical transport service, especially in rural areas and townships.

Key to shielding food from inflation is to help restore Transnet to full capacity and lower the price of diesel and electricity.

Eskom plays a key role in our domestic inflationary pressures.

For the past two decades it has been dependent upon annual tariff hikes far above inflation, with some as high as 36%!

This has bled workers’ meagre wages, caused smelters to close and retrench thousands of workers, smelters and suffocated economic growth.  Helping Eskom end its dependency upon above inflation tariff hikes is key to releasing workers’ wages, unlocking economic growth and reducing unemployment.

Whilst Eskom has done well to end loadshedding it now needs the help of government to tackle the R120 billion municipal debt owed to it.  The most effective way to do this is to move all customers, including government institutions and companies, to prepaid electricity.

Similar billing collection interventions are needed in local government to ensure municipal tariffs are collected.  If all consumers pay for water and electricity consumed than we can end the death spiral of above inflation tariff hikes and even increase the allocation of free basic services to indigent households.

An expansion of access to cheaper electricity can help wean poor households off otherwise expensive paraffin.

Government and industry need to revive domestic fuel refinery capacity to reduce our vulnerability to international supply shocks and reduce domestic fuel prices.

SARB whilst needing to manage inflation, should avoid unnecessary repo rate hikes as much as possible as most of our inflationary pressures are imported and not domestically driven.

Government, with the support of the Unemployment Insurance Fund and Developmental Finance Institutions, needs to urgently ramp up public employment programmes.  These are key to helping millions of unemployed earn a wage, enter the labour market and ease pressures upon those working.

Discussions should take place on how SRD Grant recipients can be linked to skills training and public employment programmes to help them find work.

Employers must avoid retrenchments at all costs, reduce their often obscene wage gaps and pay their employees a living wage.  The economy cannot grow if workers earn too little to buy the goods it produces.

GEMS’ 9% 2026 premium hike and similar ones by other medical aids point to the urgent need for interventions to limit often shameless medical tariff hikes imposed in pursuit of profits and to accelerate the rolling out universal healthcare through the National Health Insurance.

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme has helped millions access tertiary education, yet its income threshold has never been adjusted since its introduction a decade ago, thus shrinking the number of eligible poor students.  This must be corrected and accompanied by a discussion on how we expand access to tertiary education and ensure its financial sustainability.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition needs to crack down on loan sharks who routinely violate the National Credit Act and exploit workers’ desperation for relief.

Engagements on the next phase of the Two Pot Pension Reforms must start.  The first phase provided 4 million highly indebted workers with over R70 billion relief whilst massively boosting long-term savings.

What is needed now are robust engagements at Nedlac on bold interventions to provide relief to the working class, stimulate economic growth and create jobs.

Zingiswa Losi is the president of Cosatu. 

Zingiswa Losi is the president of Cosatu.  Image: Independent Newspapers

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Source: https://iol.co.za/business-report/economy/2026-08-03-cosatus-call-for-action-solutions-for-south-africas-economic-crisis/

Cosatu slams ‘reckless decision’ as Premier Foods closes Western Cape fruit plant

by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News

For illustrative purposes. Picture: iStock

Competition Commission is looking into the decision by Premier Foods to close the fruit products plant.