The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the country’s largest union, has decided to enter talks with its old federation, Cosatu, with a view to a potential return to the fold, documents from its December central committee meeting show.
Another crucial decision from its central committee is to meet the SACP after receiving an invitation from the ANC ally, which is firmly pushing ahead with contesting the 2026 election independently of the ANC and the alliance.
Numsa’s central committee also took a decision to invite the ANC and its key rivals, the EFF and the MK Party, to a colloquium in a bid to unite the country’s “progressive forces”.
The implications of Numsa’s decision are potentially far-reaching. Numsa’s returning to the Cosatu fold could immensely swell the ranks of the federation and ensure a decidedly leftist slant towards the economy and the government of national unity (GNU) instead of the pragmatic approach the federation has adopted towards President Cyril Ramaphosa and the seventh administration.
The ANC’s entry into the GNU — which includes the DA and the FF Plus — has caused consternation among its leftist allies, the SACP and key unions within Cosatu. Numsa seeks to step into the fray within the ANC-led alliance over its tie-up with the liberal DA.
Numsa was kicked out of Cosatu under former President Jacob Zuma in November 2014 over its decision to withhold electoral support from the ANC and its decision to expand its scope to organise workers outside the metals sector.
“We are willing to discuss going back with Cosatu, but we have to address the issues that led to our expulsion … you will know that those issues include Numsa expanding its scope to include other sectors of the economy,” a senior Numsa leader who wished to remain anonymous told Business Day.
“We are not saying no to Cosatu … and we are willing to engage with the SACP … this is a nuanced approach.”
Left must unite
Business Day has confirmed that Cosatu extended an invitation to Numsa to begin talks on the union’s potential return to the federation fold after this decision was taken by its own central committee meeting in September.
Cosatu insiders say that at this point in South Africa’s political economic history, it is crucial that the left unite and that Numsa’s decision on its scope was not an insurmountable hurdle if it meant it would return to the federation fold.
After Numsa’s departure, Cosatu has been dominated by public sector unions and has largely retreated on the labour front in the mainstream economy. Its recent 40th birthday celebrations were poorly attended.
Cosatu has launched two new unions to bolster its membership in non-state sectors of the economy — a domestic workers union and a taxi industry union. Both sectors are extremely difficult to organise given their informal nature and the fact that workers are not concentrated on one particular shop floor.
The formation of both unions arose from a long-standing decision in Cosatu and is an indication that the federation remains on the back foot when it comes to organising in the private sector.
Cosatu spokesperson Matthew Parks confirmed that the federation had a standing resolution on talks with Numsa over its potential return to the federation.
Numsa forms part of the newly formed federation, the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), led by former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. It is understood that the Numsa central committee decision to engage Cosatu on rejoining the federation does not spell a complete rejection of Saftu, but opens the way for the possibility of a “confederation of trade unions in South Africa”.
“It was raised in the CC that the issue of theorising the formation of a confederation should not be ruled out, as unity of the working class is also directly linked to the unity of the labour movement in South Africa,” Numsa central committee documents, seen by Business Day, said.
The documents show that Numsa has resolved to convene a colloquium of “progressive” political parties such as Bantu Holomisa’s UDM, COPE, Julius Malema’s EFF, Zuma’s MK Party, the ANC and the SACP to “engage on the development of a revolutionary programme and how to unite formations … on how we can drive the fundamentals of transforming the economy, address the issues of ownership and control and address the land question”.
“The GNU is a crisis … we are for a revolutionary agenda,” the union source said.
According to the document, Numsa would drive that discussion, and its central committee has directed its national office bearers to raise funds for the initiative. It notes that the ANC has always been contested terrain, and sources say the left’s voice has been diminished in the party in recent years.
Numsa hopes to reignite the voice of the left by engaging with Cosatu and the SACP on their own and with the ANC and all parties which have broken away from it through the years.
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