The National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) has approved the South African Federation of Trade Unions’ (Saftu) application for membership.
“I’m writing to [inform] you that the Nedlac executive council meeting of 27 January 2023 approved your membership application and to welcome you to Nedlac,” Nedlac executive director Lisa Seftel wrote to Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
“The next step would be for the organised labour overall convenor, [former Congress of South African Trade Unions general secretary], Bheki Ntshalintshali, and yourselves to be in touch to arrange for the induction and incorporation of the various structures and committees of Nedlac.”
In November 2022, Seftel indicated to Saftu that the trade union federation had met a criteria to join the labour council. As a result, Saftu will be the fourth labour federation to join Nedlac along with Cosatu, the Federation of Unions of South Africa and the National Council of Trade Unions.
Nedlac states on its website that its mission is to facilitate consensus and cooperation between government, labour, business and the community in dealing with South Africa’s socio-economic challenges.
Saftu spokesperson Trevor Shaku told Sunday World that the federation, at its first congress in 2017, resolved to apply for Nedlac membership. The federation launched in April 2017, has 17 affiliated unions and 540 000 members.
Shaku cited several reasons why Saftu’s application to become a member of Nedlac has taken close to six years to be approved. These include:
• Nedlac required Saftu to have existed for over two years before it could consider its application, and the federation had to submit two years of audited financial statements
• The Saftu-affiliated unions had to submit audited financial statements too. Nedlac considered the federation’s application in tandem with the affiliates’ audited statements and audited membership. Some unions could not submit this information on time.
“Though labouring under no illusion that Nedlac’s approval of our membership will mean a sudden transformation, if any, of the socio-economic conditions of the work working class, our admission into that forum is critical,” Shaku said.
It is critical because, after many years, Nedlac will have a labour federation as a member that is neither liberal nor in “cahoots with the ruling party”, but an independent and radical federation that will contest policy proposals affecting the working-class majority, he added.
“It means, unlike the class collaborationists, we will genuinely champion pro-poor and pro-worker policies.”
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