COSATU welcomes the conclusion of the successful AGOA Forum held from 24 to 26 July 2024 in Washington DC
26 July 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes the successful African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) Forum held from 24 to 26 July in Washington D.C.
We support the South African government’s efforts to extend South Africa and other African countries’ membership in AGOA and craft a new and enhanced AGOA that will increase the scope of products covered to further boost Africa and South Africa’s economic and industrial development, job creation and decent work.
We applaud the leadership provided by the Minister for Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau and his predecessor Ebrahim Patel, on behalf of the African Union and the strategic interventions by the South African delegation consisting of government, business and labour.
South Africa, like all nations in this globalised era, is heavily dependent upon trade with other countries. Our key trade and investment partners include the world’s leading economies, in particular the United States, the European Union, China and Japan. AGOA has had a positive impact not only on South Africa, but Africa as a whole. It provides reduced tariff access for large volumes of South African goods to the US market, currently the world’s largest economy. Our mining, manufacturing and in particular auto-manufacturing, clothing, jewellry, chemical and agricultural exports and their jobs benefit from this favourable tariff access.
AGOA is renewed annually and due to expire in September 2025. AGOA has increased investments by US companies supporting 450 000 direct, value chain and indirect South African jobs. Our mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors benefit from the large volumes we export to the US. The tax revenue they generate contribute towards government’s fiscus and its ability to fund critical frontline public services and posts. The overwhelming majority of these workers, public and private, are members of COSATU Affiliates.
COSATU’s mandate is to unashamedly defend workers’ jobs and to tackle unemployment. We cannot afford a single job loss with a 42% unemployment rate and when 59% of young people struggle to find work. The Federation has been dismayed by statements by some politicians who have sought to weaponise trade relations and undermine South Africa’s hard-won sovereignty, principled non-aligned stance and firm belief in the need for conflicts to be resolved through peaceful dialogue. Workers should not be punished because of the world’s inevitable geo-political crises that they have nothing to do with and zero power to resolve.
AGOA has been important not only to South Africa’s industrial development but also to those of other African states, in particular our neighbouring countries, e.g. Botswana and Lesotho whose direct trade with the US pales into insignificance compared to their value-add products for South Africa’s auto-manufacturing sector which are included in vehicle exports to the US. South Africa’s exit from AGOA would not only be a devastating blow to local jobs but also those throughout the region and thus further add pressure to an already unmanageable migration flow to South Africa.
Following the progressive precedence set by South Africa’s 2023 AGOA Forum where Organised Labour, including COSATU and our sister unions from Africa and the US actively participated, the 2024 AGOA Forum upheld this progressive inclusion of the voice of workers at AGOA. This is important to ensure the cause of decent work, fair labour practices and sustainable development are placed firmly on the AGOA agenda.
A renewed AGOA needs to include provisions to support compliance with fair labour practices and penalise employers who flout labour laws. COSATU is heartened by the positive support we have received from the US labour movement which has a long history of solidarity with South African working-class struggles. The Federation is inspired by the active participation and clear sense of unity displayed at the AGOA Forum by the trade union movement across Africa and the US in support of a new AGOA which places decent work and fair labour practices, job creation and economic development at its heart.
Whilst COSATU supports South Africa’s continued membership of an enhanced AGOA, it is equally important that our historic non-aligned role be strengthened. It is critical government and business simultaneously expand trade and investment with other larging trading partners such as the European Union, China, Japan, India, Brazil and most importantly the African continent. Such efforts must include South Africa’s BRICS partners and negotiations to establish an African Continental Free Trade Area. With a 42% unemployment rate, we need to aggressively invest in all industrial, economic development and export opportunities.
Issued by Matthew Parks, Parliamentary Coordinator, COSATU, 26 July 2024
