Forty years on: COSATU has become a blunt instrument of political elites

Forty years ago, the founding of the Congress of South African Trade Unions lit a fire across South Africa. Born in the factories, mines, and shop floors of a nation in revolt, COSATU was not merely a federation. It was a weapon. A sword that cut through exploitation and a shield that protected workers from state and corporate abuse.

Its strength lay in its independence, its militancy, and the moral authority of workers prepared to shut the country down to secure dignity. In this, COSATU stood in sharp contrast to formations like FEDUSA, whose origins were shaped by white liberal caution and political accommodation rather than the crucible of mass struggle.

From Vanguard to Appendage

COSATU’s tragedy is not accidental. It is the result of a slow but near total absorption into the political machinery of the ANC. The federation that once confronted state power now tiptoes around it. Where it once mobilised workers, its leadership now expends its energy negotiating proximity to political office.

A Federation Defending Politicians, Not Workers

Nothing illustrates COSATU’s political capture more clearly than its leadership’s eagerness to defend ANC factions and personalities while workers endure unemployment, exploitation, and collapsing public services. COSATU leaders publicly rebuke criticism of ANC presidents, praise those in power, and position themselves as gatekeepers against dissent within the ruling party.

Instead of confronting government failure, they shield political figures from internal battles. This is not worker leadership. It is political bodyguarding. A workers’ federation that prioritises the protection of politicians over the protection of workers has abandoned its mandate.

The federation’s once thunderous voice has been reduced to polite murmurs calling for “engagement” while workers drown in unemployment, decaying services, and a cost of living crisis. When leaders of a workers’ federation become indistinguishable from the politicians they are meant to challenge, the sword becomes blunt and the shield becomes decorative.

The Revolt of Workers: NUMSA, AMCU, and the Breaking Point

COSATU’s decline did not begin today. For more than a decade, workers have been signalling their discontent. COSATU simply refused to listen.

The first major warning came in 2014, when the federation expelled its largest affiliate, NUMSA. Not for betraying workers, but for refusing to rubber stamp political decisions that harmed them. NUMSA’s expulsion marked the moment COSATU chose loyalty to politicians over loyalty to workers.

Tens of thousands of metalworkers sent a clear message. We will not be used as voting cattle. We will not be silenced.

The second shockwave came from the mines. The rise of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union shattered the myth that COSATU still commanded worker trust. AMCU did not emerge because workers were misled. It emerged because workers were exhausted by unions that barked at employers but wagged their tails for politicians.

AMCU’s growth was not a threat to workers. It was an indictment of COSATU. If you abandon the workers, the workers will abandon you. These breakaways were not accidents. They were acts of rebellion by workers who refused to remain passengers in a vehicle that no longer served them.

A Federation Compromised

South Africa’s crisis of corruption did not bypass COSATU. Parts of the federation and several affiliates were infected by the same culture of self enrichment that hollowed out the state. The most painful symbol of this decay is the scandal involving workers’ pensions, life savings lost under the watch of institutions meant to protect them.

Structures created to defend workers have degenerated into bureaucracies that protect careers rather than livelihoods.

COSATU’s New Role: Managing Worker Anger

Let us be honest. The COSATU that exists today is a shadow of itself. Its primary function is no longer to fight for workers but to provide the ANC with a manufactured sense of working class legitimacy. It delivers votes, not victories. It produces resolutions, not results.

COSATU has become more effective at containing worker anger than organising it. That is not a movement. It is an obstacle.

The Courage to Break With the Past

For years, well meaning activists argued that COSATU could be reclaimed or reformed. That hope has collapsed. The machinery is compromised. The leadership is co opted. The federation’s independence has dissolved, and its moral authority has evaporated.

Clinging to COSATU out of nostalgia is not loyalty. It is surrender.

The unavoidable conclusion is this. COSATU, as a workers’ organisation, must be laid to rest. Not with celebration, but with mourning. Not with speeches, but with resolve. Workers do not need to resuscitate a corpse. They need to build something living.

A New Workers’ Movement Must Rise

From shop floors, the gig economy, public services, mines, farms, and warehouses, South Africa urgently needs a new federation built on four uncompromising pillars.

1. Total political and financial independence
   No alliance with any political party. No entanglement in state patronage. Loyalty only to workers.

2. Real worker control
   Recallable leadership. Transparent mandates. Leaders who serve, not rule.

3. Militant and unapologetic action
   Mass mobilisation, strategic strikes, workplace organisation, and the courage to confront both government and capital.

4. Integrity and transparency
   Zero tolerance for corruption. Worker led audits. Full financial transparency, especially around pensions.

The Future Will Not Build Itself

COSATU’s 40th anniversary is not a celebration. It is a warning. Liberation is not inherited through structures. It is earned through struggle. No saviour will emerge from federation headquarters. No miracle will come from alliances with compromised politicians.

If workers want a shield, they must forge it.
If workers want a sword, they must sharpen it.
If workers want dignity, they must organise for it.

The next chapter of the workers’ struggle will not be written in the boardrooms of old federations. It will be written where it began, in the hands of workers who refuse to be spectators in their own oppression.