Cosatu convenes Central Committee against the backdrop of a 42.9% overall unemployment rate

THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will be convening its Central Committee this week where delegates, from the leadership of the Federation and its Affiliates, to shop stewards and workers from across the country and its economic sectors will gather.

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Cosatu’s Central Committee is a platform for members to reflect on the many challenges facing the working class, the Federation's successes and obstacles tackling these and most critically what is to be done to improve the working and living conditions of workers.

It is a workers’ parliament and a chance for their voices to be heard by government, business and society. Workers are the backbone of the economy. Their lived experiences need to be understood and their aspirations be provided a path to realisation.

The Central Committee provides space for members to engage on policy and organisational challenges and solutions as Cosatu prepares to hold its elective congress in September 2026.

Unions are the organised detachment of the working class. Their tasks are to protect and save workers’ jobs, to improve their wages and working conditions, to defend their rights and to uplift them from poverty.

The Central Committee takes place against the backdrop of a 42.9% overall and a 72% youth unemployment rate. It takes places in a nation still bearing the painful scars of poverty and inequality inherited from 350 years of apartheid and colonial rule and perpetuated by capitalism.

We gather as companies shed alarming numbers of jobs, from Glencore to Goodyear, with more likely to come as the 30% tariff hikes on South African exports by the United States hits agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Over the past two decades it is estimated that up to 350 000 industrial jobs have been lost as the increasingly unaffordable price of electricity hits the industrial sectors.

More job seekers enter the economy each year than it can absorb. Matters are likely to worsen as the 4th industrial revolution gathers momentum, where even white-collar jobs will be at risk to automation.