The Congress of Trade Unions of South Africa (Cosatu) submitted an important document to the U.S. Trade Representative's Office (USTR) concerning the critical issue of forced labor and its consequences for workers in and outside South Africa. This document examines the challenges and successes in combating this form of modern slavery.
Cosatu presented its submission on the issue of forced labor, which is extremely important and often ignored, to the USTR last week. Despite disagreements with the USTR's approach to this existential issue for millions of workers, the problem holds immense significance for the working class, especially in developing countries, including South Africa. The fight against slavery and forced labor was one of the main slogans when trade unions were established worldwide, in both industrialized and developing nations.
Although society has evolved, slavery has been criminalized, and workers' rights have improved; however, abuses, including forced labor, still occur frequently, and there has recently been a rise in human trafficking linked to this phenomenon. South Africa, despite its achievements and progressive labor legislation, has not been immune to these horrors.
The compilation of Cosatu's document on the country's progress since the start of democracy in 1994 under successive African National Congress administrations evoked a sense of pride. It is commendable that the progressive Constitution, along with labor laws and other legal acts, firmly regulates issues of slavery, forced labor, and human trafficking. A significant part of these laws resulted from decades of workers' struggle led by Cosatu.
Despite significant steps taken to combat the scourge of forced labor and human trafficking, existing shortcomings must be acknowledged, particularly regarding law enforcement and holding violators accountable, as well as the ability to keep pace with often very sophisticated global human trafficking syndicates. It is estimated that around 21 million people worldwide are in some form of forced labor, with an alarming number being child labor. For victims, workers' rights and protection remain a fragile hope, especially for women abducted for sexual exploitation.
A deeply worrying increase has been observed in the number of South Africans illegally exported abroad under the guise of lucrative jobs to criminal and forced labor syndicates, reaching as far as Myanmar. One point raised by the USTR is that forced labor threatens the competitiveness of American companies. It also jeopardizes the very existence of South African companies that comply correctly with our labor and other laws.
Slavery, forced labor, and human trafficking are among the worst crimes against humanity that must never be tolerated. As Vladimir Lenin posed the question, what is the challenge for South Africa? The first step must be to tighten legislation to protect workers, particularly customs and trade laws, to empower the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition to impose bans and tariffs on companies and imports from enterprises involved in any form of forced labor.
The second step should be further investment in the capacity of the Department of Employment and Labour, specifically its inspectors, to ensure that all workplaces, especially in high-risk sectors, consistently comply with the law. In the past year, there has been a positive increase in workplace inspections, as well as the prosecution and conviction of violating employers, including lengthy prison sentences for some Chinese employers involved in forced labor.
The South African Revenue Service has achieved improvements in tax compliance, but customs control remains one of its main problems and weaknesses. Further investment in its potential through filling frontline vacancies, strengthening IT systems, and deploying scanning machines is crucial for combating fraud and illegal imports. Similar resources are urgently needed for the Border Control Agency, which is paralyzed by a catastrophic vacancy rate of 75%, and the South African National Defence Force, tasked with securing over 72 border posts, 5,244 km of land borders, and 2,798 km of coastline.
There is a need for a unified international approach to this acute problem. A partial approach will be insufficient. When one country fights it, such practices often simply move to less equipped countries. The International Labour Organization (ILO) must lead this fight by creating a global database of workplaces and countries implicated in such acts of forced labor. This will help prevent this progressive goal from being used for narrow domestic protectionist aims or as a weapon to target countries due to geopolitical disagreements.
It is important that the ILO develops a common global stance on forced prison labor and exports related to this practice. Although South Africa has correctly criminalized this practice, many leading industrial countries, including some of our largest trading partners, have not, and in fact utilize such forced prison labor.
Strengthening legislation, enhancing enforcement capabilities, and curbing the activities of workplaces and imports associated with forced labor will send a clear signal to such employers that such behavior will not be tolerated. While we are proud of how far the country has come, Cosatu is saddened that so many workers, especially women and children, are subjected to forced labor crimes in South Africa and globally.
It is our duty as Cosatu to offer significant and practical solidarity to less fortunate workers, especially in countries like Myanmar and Sudan, where such abuses tragically occur frequently, or even in sewing factories closer to home in Lesotho. Cosatu will soon hold its national congress, the workers' parliament. The fight against this scourge of modern slavery will be one of the topics discussed.
The key will be to emerge after the congress with a determined campaign for Cosatu to lead this fight in our workplaces through inspection raids, strengthening our legislation through Nedlac and Parliament, stopping the import of goods produced using forced labor, and guiding negotiations in our international forums, particularly at the ILO. Solidarity means giving hope to the most disadvantaged and exploited, whether in South Africa or anywhere else. Workers must not accept such abominable crimes in this day and age. Cosatu is determined to ensure that such violations remain in the past.
Recent demonstrations in South Africa reflect deep public dissatisfaction related to unemployment and the quality of public services, contradicting the notion of the country being violent. The article analyzes the underlying economic difficulties and emphasizes the urgent need for action.
Over the past week, South Africa has drawn the attention of the global and local community due to marches held on Tuesday. While some portray the country as aggressive towards foreigners, this is not accurate. It is crucial to consider the deep frustrations and anger of the population. Society is exhausted by an economy that grows barely fast enough to keep pace with population growth, let alone absorb hundreds of thousands of young people entering the labor market annually. The country faces one of the highest unemployment rates in the world—43.7%, leading to entrenched poverty and inequality.
Despite numerous challenges, South Africa remains an economic hub for the Southern African region and a significant part of the continent. It cannot remain a relatively isolated oasis of prosperity amidst an ocean of poverty. The marches took place, and were mostly peaceful, for which credit should be given to the police officers. However, the sincere demands of the demonstrators and society, especially the working class, cannot be ignored; these issues require urgent resolution.
The first problem is the unemployment crisis. No society can be proud or feel secure if four out of ten citizens cannot find work, especially decent and permanent employment. Over 62% of youth are at risk of unemployment. Solving the unemployment problem must become a top priority for the government, businesses, trade unions, and society as a whole. Once people get jobs, many acute socio-economic crises will begin to subside.
To create jobs, the economy needs to be pulled out of its sluggish state, which has lasted over ten years, and raised to the required 3% growth. This implies assisting Eskom and municipalities in ensuring electricity accessibility for working-class families, businesses, and industry. Accelerating investment in rail transport, ports, roads, water supply, airports, and other vital economic infrastructure is also necessary.
Furthermore, the process of starting a business must be simplified, and financing must be accessible and acceptable for SMEs, especially in rural areas and settlements. The private sector must actively participate in job creation, including discussing alternatives to staff reductions with workers and unions. Employers are obliged to pay workers a living wage. This is critical for ensuring worker health and productivity, as well as their sense of value and motivation. For economic growth, it is also vital that workers receive a decent salary and become shareholders, allowing them to purchase goods needed by businesses.
Employers should prioritize hiring young South Africans. It has often been observed that employers exploit the desperation of undocumented labor, violating their labor rights and immigration laws. If this is not addressed, it will become a trigger for future conflicts. Part of the demonstrators' anger is linked to the state of public and municipal services. When communities face deteriorating water supply and sanitation infrastructure, such as sewage leaks on roads in settlements, why should they be surprised by protests? When workers spend days queuing at the Department of Interior or hospitals for the most basic services, why should they be suppressed?
While acknowledging everything that causes anger, it is also necessary to note the progress made by society since 1994 under successive African National Congress administrations. These administrations implemented public services for the working class to reduce poverty and inequality, and in recent years, they have managed to overcome power outages that damaged the economy, restore other state-owned enterprises, and begin dismantling networks of state resource theft. It is necessary to honestly acknowledge the unacceptable level of crime and define steps to eliminate it.
As with other aspects of the state, competent leadership of law enforcement agencies must be ensured, vacancies on the front lines must be filled, critical skills must be attracted, and personnel and institutions must be provided with the necessary resources to win this fight. Protests occurred because society is losing faith in the state's ability to ensure the rule of law, which is an extremely dangerous situation for any society.
Any form of xenophobia, racism, or discrimination must be categorically rejected, as the country knows the meaning of these phenomena after experiencing apartheid. We are not like that, and we should never be. At the same time, it must be demanded that every resident of South Africa, citizen or not, complies with all laws. Migration must be managed, not a chaotic process. South Africa cannot bear the burden of providing employment for an entire region or continent; primarily, we owe our loyalty to South African citizens.
Migration is part of history, including the country's history, as the mining industry was built by generations of workers from Cofimvaba to Cabo Delgado. There is a historical obligation to help develop the region that the country owes so much to. The region and the continent must prosper. This requires other African governments to take responsibility to their citizens by addressing the reasons why they are forced to leave their homes due to mass human rights violations, climate change, or a complete lack of jobs and economic opportunities.
The government must strengthen border security and provide the Department of Interior, Border Control Agency, as well as SAPS and SANDF with the necessary resources to constantly ensure the rule of law. Despite numerous problems, they must be solved. Migration is an integral part of human nature and must be managed in a humane and sustainable way. These marches have been an alarming signal that cannot be ignored.
Cosatu and the Western Cape Coalition Against Xenophobia held a press conference in Salt River, where they declared their solidarity and firm opposition to groups associated with the March and March movements, due to the escalation of attacks on African migrants.
Cosatu Western Cape and the Western Cape Coalition Against Xenophobia (WCC-AX) insist that the Department of Home Affairs must be held responsible for migrants remaining stateless, undocumented, and in limbo amid concerns related to the June 30 deadline.
During a briefing on Monday, Cosatu representative Malvern de Bruyn presented a joint statement from both organizations. In it, they expressed their support and condemnation of the escalation of attacks on African migrants by March and March and affiliated xenophobic groups.
De Bruyn stated that such actions are 'a particularly cruel attempt to divide the working class and the poor.' He believes this is aimed at distracting from the 'absolute failures of the government over more than 30 years' in building an economy focused on ordinary people. Instead, he argues, there is an elite living in luxury while millions starve and lack jobs.
He sharply rejected the so-called 'June 30 deadline,' which, according to him, has already caused much chaos, suffering, and violence, risking becoming another surge of mass repatriations, tribal racism, threats, and intimidation.
Malvern de Bruyn also noted that March and March spread lies about people arriving in South Africa, concealing the colonial roots and history of mobility on the continent. He linked the conflict in the DRC to the interests of profit-hungry transnational corporations, and the devastating consequences of climate change in Malawi and Mozambique are making entire regions uninhabitable.
In his view, Africa should unite, not fragment into colonial parts. He reminded that the country was built through the labor of migrants and called for the resumption of resistance against the 'logic of apartheid influx control' used by xenophobes. De Bruyn emphasized that blaming migrants distracts from the real enemy—gangster politicians, corrupt officials, hospital robbers, company owners whose shares rise on the JSE, and the ruling elite who support them.
He added that employers exploit the labor of vulnerable migrants by paying them less than the minimum wage and undermining collective bargaining, and that these employers are the real enemy, not the migrants themselves. De Bruyn concluded that shifting blame onto undocumented migrants does not force the Department of Home Affairs to answer for keeping people stateless, undocumented, and in an uncertain situation, because the Department itself creates such migrants through inefficient or absent processing of their documents.
The organizations urged all South Africans to reject the fabricated June 30 deadline, report any actions against migrants to the relevant authorities and civil groups, and act in the spirit of ubuntu and support neighbors.
Damnor Chuma from Zimbabwe, representing WCC-AX, expressed deep concern and a sense of betrayal, noting that the working class and the poor are fighting each other instead of uniting against unemployment, poverty, and inequality. He also noted anxiety over thousands of immigrants forced to return to their countries of origin despite their contribution to the country's economic, social, and cultural development.
President Cyril Ramaphosa stated on Monday that while the right to protest is enshrined in the Constitution, it 'does not allow people to threaten or intimidate others, or participate in acts of vandalism or violence.' He stressed that society's task is to work together to solve the legitimate problems raised by citizens, and that the government is obliged to respond with effective measures. Ramaphosa reported that the government has recognized the need for substantial reform of the immigration system, and steps are being taken to strengthen border management, enhance the fight against undocumented immigration, improve the integrity of asylum and visa systems, and combat corruption that has weakened immigration control.
