South African Trade Unionism at a Crossroads: The Case of the Congress of South African Trade Unions

Abstract

South African trade unions like trade unions elsewhere in Africa, played a crucial role in the struggle against oppression. They fought the oppressive governments mostly, in an alliance with democratic political organisations. In South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions was formed three decades ago and has been the largest trade union federation in the country. It allied with the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party in their fight against the apartheid government. This article starts by providing for a historical background to COSATU. It will then assess some important trends in its development and the current state of affairs. The debacle between COSATU and NUMSA and the alliance between COSATU, African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) will also be looked at. Finally, the paper will reflect on the future of the trade union movement in post-apartheid South Africa. The article concludes that currently, there is a need for COSATU to ascertain its position as a labour federation and that the alliance between COSATU and the ANC and SACP is no longer relevant since the circumstances under which this relationship was conceived have since changed.