Cape Town -- NEWLY re-elected president of the country’s largest labour federation, Zingiswa Losi, is a woman on a mission to fix “broken policies” plaguing the country’s workforce.
Losi, the Congress of South African Trade Union’s (Cosatu) first female president, told Weekend Argus that her re-election meant “the world” to her.
“They (union members) confided in me and I am humble,” Losi said.
The four-day congress took place at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Gauteng.
One of the key issues discussed during Cosatu’s 14th national congress was radical policies aimed to curtail the employment of foreign nationals in the country.
Other changes the federation heavily pushed for was the imposing of hefty fines on companies that employ immigrants who do not have “scarce skills”.
Losi said unequal pay was also an issue she wanted to tackle head-on. “Especially the minimum wage for domestic workers.”
During Losi's first term, which was lauded by many, watershed minimum wage agreements were signed into law, which includes the fact that domestic workers now earn just more than R23 an hour.
“They’re entitled to so much more,” Losi said.
Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, is expected to announce new regulations for domestic workers.
The regulations were introduced as solutions to some issues such as the compensation of domestic workers who are injured on the job.
Until recently, domestic workers were excluded from the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act.
A recent SweepSouth survey laid bare how domestic workers in the country remained underpaid.
Nxesi says the legislation is at an advanced stage in terms of consultation.
Losi said the legislation should have been introduced a long time ago.
“Workers have always been exploited and exposed to various dangers, but no one ever wanted to accept responsibility for them,” she said.
In her address to delegates, Losi said the ANC must rid itself of “corrupt elements” if it is to avoid suffering a crushing defeat in the 2024 general election.
“The ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) remain the most progressive and relevant political formations to drive the demands of the working class.”
She also said the ANC is “not perfect and has made serious mistakes”.
Losi added: “Let’s help the ANC get rid of criminal elements if it wants to be saved.”
But the question remains will Cosatu ditch the ANC at the 2024 national and provincial polls and instead throw its weight behind the SACP?
“Time will tell,” Losi told Weekend Argus.
The SACP’s Solly Mapaila, who pushed for the federation to adopt a stance on the future of the alliance and Cosatu’s continued backing of the ANC, said they welcomed the stance to ready the SACP to possibly contest elections.
“The SACP welcomes the resolution adopted by Cosatu on the relationship of the working class and the SACP as a working-class party to electoral contestation, against the background of the related critical questions of the necessity to reconfigure the alliance and renew and unite our movement,” he said in a statement.
Mapaila said they also welcomed resolutions to intensify the struggle to defend the gains of the workers and fight for their common interests.
“The working class in South Africa is ravaged by high levels of unemployment, poverty, and inequality. For example, in the second quarter of this year, 12,3 million active and discouraged work-seekers were unemployed. Millions of working-class households cannot make ends meet.”
“Similarly, the electricity crisis compounded by state capture came about as a result of neoliberal policy failures.”
ANC chairperson and Mineral Resources Minister, Gwede Mantashe, was booed off the stage during the conference this week with delegates refusing to be addressed by him.
Political analyst, Professor Sipho Seepe said Cosatu rarely addressed itself to critical policies aside from rehashing itself.
“Doing so is anyway meaningless for as long as it’s in alliance with the ANC,” he said.
“The ANC does what it wants once it is in government. Its policies are dictated elsewhere, especially so under Ramaphosa's administration. It correctly finds itself in the same space as that of an abused spouse.“
Weekend Argus.