MKMVA congratulates COSATU on the successful conclusion of their 13th National Conference, and in doing so also congratulates the newly elected leadership – especially Comrade Zingiswa Losi with her election as the first women president of COSATU
20 September 2018
The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) congratulates comrade Zingiswa Losi with her unopposed election as the first woman President of COSATU. The election of comrade Losi is a momentous breakthrough for the empowerment of women workers. Comrade Losi has a long and illustrious career in the trade union movement. She has literally worked herself up through the ranks of the labour movement, and distinguished herself as a fighter for the improvement of the plight of workers in general, but specifically for the plight of women workers, and for women to receive the recognition that their large proportional membership of workers overall in SA, and of COSATU specifically, entitles them to.
Comrade Losi's election as the President of COSATU is a critical advancement for the empowerment of women, not only in COSATU, but also for the Tri-Partite Alliance. MKMVA looks forward to comrade Losi, together with leadership of COSATU, working to rebuild unity within COSATU, and for the ground that COSATU lost among considerable numbers of workers in various industries, to be regained. We urge comrade Losi to place her mandate as leader of, and representative of the working class, upfront during her term.
MKMVA also warmly acknowledges comrade Sdumu Dlamini, the outgoing President of COSATU, for the outstanding manner in which he led COSATU during the difficult and turbulent period that he was at the helm, over the past ten years.
Comrade Dlamini played a critically important role in the introduction of the minimum wage, as well as the changes to the labour law regarding maternity leave and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), to mention only a few of his many achievements. We wish him well in his future endeavours, which includes his membership of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress. We know that comrade Dlamini will continue to work tirelessly for the advancement of our National Democratic Revolution (NDR).
On this, the final, day of COSATU's 13th National Conference MKMVA congratulates COSATU with the successful conclusion the Conference, and in doing so we also extend our warm comradely congratulations to al the comrades who have been elected into leadership positions. It is our ardent hope that they will tirelessly and successfully work to attain unity within COSATU, as well as unity among workers in general. We also urge them to work hard to contribute constructively and with a conscious working class agenda, to re-gain unity and clarity of purpose within the Tri-Partite Alliance The Tri-partite Alliance must serve all the people of South Africa in order to secure the implementation of the pro-worker Radical Economic Transformation (RET) Resolutions, including the expropriation of land without compensation, that were adopted at the ANC's 54th National Conference.
This is critical in order to achieve the implementation of the Second Phase of our National Democratic Revolution (NDR), and the consequent full economic empowerment and liberation of black (especially African) South Africans.
Issued by Carl Niehaus, MKMVA NEC Member and National Spokesperson, 20 September 2018
