COSATU Launches Nationwide Strikes Amid 43.8% Unemployment Rate

While foreign exchange markets showed little change early in the week—with the rand trading at 16.6325 against the dollar and benchmark government bonds maturing in 2035 strengthening slightly—the Congress of South African Trade Unions has launched nationwide marches and pickets across Johannesburg, Tshwane, North West, and the Western Cape to demand stronger labour protections as South Africa contends with an unemployment rate of 43.8%.

The demonstrations coincide with the international observance of World Day for Decent Work, bringing long-standing worker grievances over job security and compensation to the forefront as COSATU and its affiliates stage marches and pickets across the country against a backdrop of declining gold and platinum export earnings.

Labour Groups Demand Minimum Wage Compliance

Federation representatives estimate that roughly 40% of workers continue to earn below the mandated baseline, and labour organizers argue that despite increases in the National Minimum Wage since its 2019 introduction, compliance among employers remains a persistent hurdle.

Federation spokesperson Zanele Sabela pointed to ongoing staff shortages within regulatory bodies tasked with enforcing workplace standards.

COSATU Launches Nationwide Strikes Amid 43.8% Unemployment Rate — Photo: Jacaranda FM

“COSATU calls for stronger enforcement of the NMW and other labour rights, and for government to expedite the recruitment of 10,000 additional labour inspectors announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address.”

Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson

Sabela noted that employers persist in cutting positions despite a staggeringly high unemployment rate of 43.8% as the protests also target corporate downsizing.

Labor Unions Protest Sun International Retrenchments and Massmart Job Losses

Joint demonstrations by COSATU and the South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) are heading toward Sun City in the North West and the GrandWest Casino in the Western Cape as Sun International’s ongoing Section 189 retrenchment process across multiple casino properties has drawn direct opposition from organized labour.

Retail giant Massmart faces memorandums demanding the reinstatement of nearly 600 Makro workers who lost their jobs following a protected strike in 2021, even after the Constitutional Court dismissed the company’s damages claim against SACCAWU, while unions are urging provincial gaming authorities to examine whether Sun International is adhering to public-interest and transformation obligations tied to its operating licenses.

Municipal Workers Face Unpaid Salaries

Workers at several local authorities go months without pay while pension and medical aid contributions are allegedly withheld as municipal employees represented by the South African Municipal Workers Union face severe financial strain in Mpumalanga.

Labour representatives report an over-reliance on labour brokers and temporary staffing arrangements across various sectors.

“Workers are aggrieved by the increasing casualisation of jobs and the indefinite use of labour brokers.”

Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson

Additional regional demands include enhanced security and revised cash-handling procedures for retail and municipal workers handling cash, prayer sessions focused on gender-based violence in the Northern Cape alongside alliance partners from the ANC, SACP, and SANCO, and resistance against the unbundling of Eskom.