Cosatu has urged all its affiliates to support the ANC in the upcoming local government elections and to ensure that the governing party obtains decisive victories in all 257 local municipalities including metro councils.
The call was made by the Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi in her closing remarks on Thursday following the Federation’s seventh four-day Central Committee meeting.
According to Losi, the decision to support the ANC was primarily aimed at defending the “democratic breakthrough of 1994'”.
“We cannot afford to be complacent. Workers will be the biggest losers of any setbacks or defeats faced by our ally, the African National Congress.
“The ANC has gone through a painful period. It is still recovering from the decade of state capture and the same demons of factionalism.
“ Yet it remains a loyal ally of workers. It is the ANC which ensured Parliament passed many progressive labour laws, including the National Minimum Wage (NMW) that has improved the wages of more than 6 million workers,” Losi said.
She said that included farm and domestic workers who equalised with the NMW in 2021 and will reach it in 2022 respectively. Losi also said that Cosatu would work to ensure public works programmes workers reach the NMW.
“It is the ANC which has tabled at Parliament the National Health Insurance Bill seeking to provide quality universal health care for all workers. It is the ANC that is defending the Expropriation Bill and the amendment of Section 25 as key tools to accelerate land reform.
“This is critical for thousands of farm workers who should be allowed the right to own their own land.
“Workers cannot afford to see the ANC lose power to political parties with no history of supporting workers’ struggles. Workers cannot afford to see the election of parties who have unashamedly said they will repeal our progressive labour laws,” Losi said.
She said her central committee has welcomed the efforts shown by the leadership of the ANC to implement the progressive Nasrec step aside resolution of leadership facing criminal charges.
“This must be accelerated to ensure that the ANC returns to its roots. The President, comrade Cyril Ramaphosa, will be launching the ANC’s local government elections manifesto at 5pm, Monday in Tshwane.
“It is a progressive manifesto that addresses Cosatu’s key demands on rebuilding local government, tackling corruption, delivering basic services, creating jobs and growing the economy,” Losi said.
She said Cosatu and its affiliates reaffirm their overwhelming support for the ANC, saying the Federation would be waging a relentless campaign to mobilise every worker and their family to turn out in their numbers and return the ANC to office in every town, city and village on November 1.
Cosatu would continue to strengthen its relationship with the SACP (South African Communist Party ), to build the left axis in the Alliance and to drive its progressive reconfiguration.
Political Bureau