Cosatu’s membership drops

Cosatu’s membership drops

The membership of the Congress of South African Trade Unions has declined to 1,9 million, the federation said.

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In a draft organisation report to the 12th national elective congress starting in Midrand on Monday, Cosatu said it had 1,2 million members in 1991. The congress is being held at Gallagher Estate.


“This number rose to about 1,9 million in 2000 and about 12 years later in 2012, the number stood at just under 2,2 million members. Currently, Cosatu’s membership stands at around 1, 9 million which should make the federation and its affiliates to pose and reflect because it means that Cosatu has about the same membership as it did 15 years ago,” reads the report.


The federation’s membership was reduced when its biggest affiliate- the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), with about 365 000 members, was expelled in November 2014 and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) lost members in the platinum mines in 2012.


Numsa was expelled following its 2013 special national congress in which the union resolved not to support the ANC or any political party in the 2014 election, stop paying its contributions to Cosatu and extending its scope of operation. The union also called on Cosatu to leave the tripartite alliance with the ANC and the SA Communist Party. Numsa also declared the alliance was dead.


In August 2012, the NUM lost members to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) in the platinum belt in Rustenburg, following a violent wildcat strike at Lonmin platinum mine operation in Marikana.


Forty-four people where killed during the strike – 34 of them were killed on August 16, 2012 when the police fired at them. Ten others,including two Lonmin security guards and two policemen, were killed a week earlier.


The strike spread to Anglo American Platinum and Impala platinum mines reducing NUM membership.


According to the report, In 1991 Cosatu’s membership constituted 93 percent private sector workers and only seven percent public sector employees.


By 2012, private sector membership had dropped to 61 percent while that of the public sector had risen to 39 percent, meaning Cosatu has succeeded in attracting public sector workers, but at the same time, it has lost or is not attracting private sector workers in substantial numbers.


Elections for leadership positions in Cosatu will take place during the national congress which ends on Thursday, 26th of November 2015.

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