The Congress of South African Trade Unions, which is allied to the African National Congress, has expressed appreciation for the progress that President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation (which included Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi) in restoring the relationship between South Africa and the US.
In a statement, Cosatu’s Parliamentary Coordinator Matthew Parks recalled the considerable importance of US investment and trade links in supporting employment and livelihoods. It also pointed to the benefits of US aid, such as the PEPFAR programme, which had benefited “countless” people.
“South African workers have a vested stake in a positive and mutually respectful relationship with over 600 American companies invested in South Africa and South African exporters to the US employing over 500 000 South African workers.”
It also noted that there had been tensions in the relationship that predated President Trump.
In the statement’s words: “The mission of the delegation was not to sign a new trade deal, but rather to stabilise bilateral relations that had experienced severe strain in recent times, and to put in place a process at the highest levels of both nations’ governments to address various concerns on both sides on geo-political, trade and related matters. It is urgent that both governments, with the support of business and labour, work with speed over the next few weeks to put in place a mutually beneficial reset package, in particular on how trade, investment, tourism and other areas of partnership between both countries can be achieved. We hope this will include an extension and strengthening of the African Growth and Opportunities Act.”
The statement did not deal with COSATU’s own often hostile view of the US.
It also noted that COSATU was “heartened” that the delegation had pushed back against the narrative of a genocide unfolding in South Africa. “South Africa has very difficult socio-economic challenges; genocide and persecution are not among them,” it said.
It went on to say that the engagement had highlighted the imperative of dealing with crime, and of economic growth to reduce the conditions in which criminality can thrive.
It continued: “2025 has shone a spotlight onto the ugly underbelly of racism we had naively assumed disappeared with the advent of democracy in 1994, as well as the fraying social fabric. There must be no space for racism or hate speech of any kind in a South Africa that seeks to live up to the progressive vision of the Freedom Charter, drafted by the African National Congress and the Alliance, of a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it, Black and White.”
It is unclear whether the reference to hate speech was about the rhetoric used by Julius Malema and the Economic Freedom Fighters, or whether COSATU intended to campaign against it. Like the ANC, COSATU has not expressed any concerns about such rhetoric in the past.
The statement concluded: “Ultimately South Africa will attract the levels of investment needed to defeat unemployment, poverty, inequality and crime, when we place our house in order. That is a task that only South Africans can and must do.”
[Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cosatuphotos/8549074498/]