Congress of South African Trade Unions facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
COSATU

Founded	30 November 1985; 39 years ago (1985-11-30)
Headquarters	Cosatu House 110 Jorissen Street Johannesburg Gauteng
Location	South Africa
Members	2,193,965
Key people	Zingiswa Losi, President Solly Phetoe, General Secretary
Website	www.cosatu.org.za

A COSATU protest in Cape Town. They were calling for an end to corruption in the government.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, better known as COSATU, is a large group of trade unions in South Africa. A trade union is an organization that helps workers get better pay and safer working conditions. COSATU is a federation, which means it's a team made up of many different unions.

Founded in 1985, COSATU is the biggest of the three main trade union federations in the country. It is made up of 21 affiliated, or member, trade unions.

The Story of COSATU

How It All Began

On November 30, 1985, leaders from 33 different trade unions met at the University of Natal. They wanted to create one giant federation to unite workers. For four years, they had been talking about joining forces to fight against apartheid, a system of racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa.

COSATU was officially created on December 1, 1985. Some of the first members included the National Union of Mineworkers. Elijah Barayi became the first president, and Jay Naidoo was the first general secretary.

At their first meeting, they set several important goals:

• To create one union for each industry.
• To focus on the unfair treatment of women workers.
• To demand the release of all political prisoners.
• To ask other countries to put pressure on South Africa's government.
• To fight for the right for workers to strike and picket (protest outside a workplace).
• To set a national minimum wage, which is the lowest amount a worker can be paid.

In May 1987, COSATU organized a major strike where over 2.5 million workers stayed home from their jobs. The day after the strike, two bombs exploded in the basement of COSATU's main office, COSATU House. The building was badly damaged and became unsafe.

Fighting Against Apartheid

COSATU played a big role in the struggle to end apartheid. At their second national meeting in 1987, they adopted the Freedom Charter. This was an important document that described the kind of fair and democratic South Africa they wanted to build.

In 1989, COSATU called on its members to take part in a "sustained action" against apartheid. This led to the National Defiance Campaign, where people peacefully protested by entering places that were reserved only for white people.

After Apartheid

After apartheid ended in the early 1990s, COSATU continued to work for the rights of workers. By 2012, it had nearly 2.2 million members. Although its membership numbers have dropped since then, it remains a powerful voice for workers in South Africa.

Political Role

COSATU is in a partnership with the ANC, the ruling political party, and the South African Communist Party. This partnership is called the Tripartite Alliance.

This alliance gives COSATU a voice in the government. However, it can be complicated. Sometimes, COSATU disagrees with the government's policies and criticizes them publicly. This has led to debates within COSATU about how close it should be to the ANC.

Social Activism

Fighting HIV/AIDS

South Africa has been heavily affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. COSATU decided to take action and became a key partner in the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). This group works to educate people about HIV/AIDS and fights for access to life-saving medicines.

In 1998, COSATU passed a resolution to campaign for treatment. They saw that many of their lowest-paid members were dying because they could not afford medicine. COSATU worked with TAC to pressure the government to provide these medicines to everyone who needed them.

Supporting Other Causes

COSATU also supports other movements for justice.

• Zimbabwe: COSATU has organized protests against the government in neighboring Zimbabwe when it believed human rights were being violated.
• Palestine: The federation has shown support for Palestinians. They have marched to the U.S. Embassy in South Africa to call for the recognition of Palestine's right to self-govern.

The COSATU Logo

The COSATU logo is full of meaning.

• The wheel represents the country's economy.
• The gold color of the wheel stands for the wealth of the nation.
• The three people pushing the wheel (two men and a woman with a baby) show the struggles of workers against unfairness based on race, gender, and economic status. They are black to represent the struggle of the majority against oppression.
• The red flag they hold is a symbol of the working class.

The slogan on the logo is "An injury to one is an injury to all." This means that all workers should stand together in solidarity.

Member Unions

COSATU is made up of many different unions, each representing workers in a specific industry. Here are some of its current member unions:

Expulsion of NUMSA

In 2014, COSATU had a major disagreement with its largest member union, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA). The leaders of COSATU felt that NUMSA was not following the federation's rules.

On November 8, 2014, after a close vote, COSATU's leadership decided to expel NUMSA from the federation. The general secretary of NUMSA, Irvin Jim, called it "a dark day for workers." In protest, seven other unions temporarily stopped participating in COSATU's leadership meetings.

Current Leaders

As of 2025, the main leaders of COSATU are:

• President: Zingiswa Losi
• First Deputy-President: Mike Shingange
• Second Deputy-President: Duncan Luvuno
• General Secretary: Solly Phetoe
• Deputy General Secretary: Gerald Twala
• Treasurer: Freda Oosthuysen

See also

In Spanish: Congreso de Sindicatos Sudafricanos para niños

• Trade unions in South Africa
• 1973 Durban strikes
• 2007 South African public servants' strike
• Siphiwe Mvuyane
• John Gomomo