60-523: Elizabeth Thabethe (26 September 1959 – 26 March 2021) was a South African politician and former trade unionist from Gauteng . She represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly of South Africa for five terms from May 1994 to May 2019. Between 2005 and 2019, she served as a deputy minister in the national governments of four successive presidents. After leaving
120-618: A 1991 amendment which effectively repealed the previous powers. In 1990 SACTU, which had continued underground activities from exile, dissolved and advised its members to join COSATU. COSATU, as a member of the Tripartite alliance with the ANC and SACP, provided material support in the form of strikes and both political and economic unrest, which eventually led to the displacement of the National Party, and
180-551: A campaign against both COSATU and NACTU activists, and had received at least 1.5 million Rand from the security police. In 1988 a new Labour Relations Act placed restrictions on labour activities, including giving the Labour Court the power to ban lawful strikes and lock-outs. This was to be short-lived, and negotiations between COSATU, NACTU and the South African Committee on Labour Affairs (SACOLA) eventually produced
240-537: A candidate for the ANC; with Joyce Mabudafhasi and Susan Shabangu , she was one of three women whom COSATU nominated for inclusion on the ANC list. In the April 1994 election, Thabethe was elected to represent the ANC in the National Assembly , the lower house of the new South African Parliament . She served continuously in the National Assembly for the next 25 years, gaining re-election to five consecutive terms; for
300-452: A firm institutional footing under SADC's umbrella failed. On 14 August 2001, the 1992 SADC treaty was amended. The amendment heralded the overhaul of the structures, policies and procedures of SADC, a process which is ongoing. One of the changes is that political and security cooperation is institutionalised in the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security (OPDS); one of the principal SADC bodies. It
360-573: A funeral at Change Bible Church in Katlehong, where the speakers included Panyaza Lesufi and Faith Mazibuko . In a statement, President Ramaphosa called her "a champion of economic transformation and equity", and the ANC called her a "distinguished daughter of the soil". Thabethe had one daughter. Trade unions in South Africa Trade unions in South Africa has a history dating back to
420-540: A hiatus as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Energy, she returned as President Jacob Zuma 's Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry from November 2010 to May 2014. Thereafter she was the first Deputy Minister of Small Business Development from May 2014 to March 2017 under President Zuma, and the Deputy Minister of Tourism from March 2017 to May 2019 under Presidents Zuma and Ramaphosa. She retired from
480-592: A lingua franca in the African Great Lakes region, other parts of East Africa, and to a lesser degree, parts of Southern Africa – is an official language of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and of the African Union . SADC has 27 legally binding protocols dealing with issues such as Defence, Development, Illicit Drug Trade, Free Trade and Movement of People. The SADC Free Trade Area was established in August 2008, after
540-419: A resolution in 1998 to campaign for treatment. "It was clear to the labour movement at that time that its lowest paid members were dying because they couldn’t afford medicines," stated Theodora Steel, Campaigns Coordinator at COSATU. "We saw TAC as a natural ally in a campaign for treatment. We passed a formal resolution at our congress to assist and build TAC." Notwithstanding the formal alliance of COSATU with
600-632: A second Deputy Minister in the portfolio, Rob Davies . Together they deputised Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa . They were sworn in to office on 23 June. Both Thabethe and Davies, along with Minister Mpahlwa, were retained in the ministry when Mbeki was succeeded by President Kgalema Motlanthe in a midterm presidential election in 2008. After the April 2009 general election , Thabethe was re-elected to her parliamentary seat, but newly elected President Jacob Zuma declined to reappoint her as deputy minister. Instead, in May,
660-528: A single parliamentary committee meeting that year. Thabethe did not stand for re-election to Parliament in the May 2019 general election . Instead, on 4 November 2019, President Ramaphosa named Thabethe as one of three special investment envoys tasked with supporting his drive to attract $ 100 billion in new foreign direct investment ; the other envoys were Jeff Radebe , focusing on the oil and gas industry , and Derek Hanekom, Thabethe's former boss, who with Thabethe
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#1733085125299720-519: A sports programme including athletics , football , netball , boxing and basketball . In 2012, the SADC deployed peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to counter a rebel threat. The deployed troops were supplied by Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa. In August 2019 SADC adopted Swahili as its fourth working language, alongside English, French and Portuguese. Kiswahili –
780-659: Is a free trade zone spanning the whole continent from the Cape to Cairo ( Cape Town in the Republic of South Africa to Cairo in Egypt ). In addition to eliminating duplicative membership and the problem member states also participating in other regional economic cooperation schemes and regional political and security cooperation schemes that may compete with or undermine each other, the African Free Trade Zone further aims to strengthen
840-469: Is affiliated with the World Confederation of Labour (WCL). The 2006 ICFTU Annual Survey of violations of trade union rights noted South Africa: "Serious violations were reported during the year, including the death of two workers killed by their employer in a wage dispute, and a striking farm worker killed by security guards. Protest strikes and demonstrations met with violent repression, such as
900-468: Is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone , Botswana . The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 16 countries in southern Africa. Although its primary objectives are development, economic growth, and poverty alleviation, peacekeeping has become increasingly important to the SADC. As of 2022,
960-776: Is subject to the oversight of the organisation's supreme body, the Summit, which comprises the heads of state or government. The organisation holds its own multi-sport event in the form of the SADC Games, which was first held in 2004 in Maputo . Originally planned for an earlier date in Malawi and Lesotho, organisational issues led to abandonment of the plan and the SADC issuing a fine of $ 100,000 against Malawi. The first event in 2004 in Maputo resulted in over 1000 youths under-20 from 10 countries taking part in
1020-551: Is threatened by the existence of different product standards and tariff regimes, weak customs infrastructure and bad roads. The socio-economic and political and security cooperation aims of SADC are equally wide-ranging, and intended to address the various common challenges. One significant challenge is that member states also participate in other regional economic cooperation schemes and regional political and security cooperation schemes that may compete with or undermine SADC's aims. For example, South Africa and Botswana both belong to
1080-622: Is working to create conditions for Angola's accession to the SADC Free Trade Area in 2019. The SADC-Customs Union, scheduled to be established by 2010 according to SADC's Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), is unlikely to become reality in the near future. This is because the European Union's Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with their inherent extra-regional freetrade regimes provided for several SADC members more benefits than deeper regional market integration within
1140-451: The ANC Women's League , and she was also a member of the regional executive committee of the mainstream ANC's Ekhuruleni branch. Thabethe served as committee chairperson for just over a year: on 22 June 2005, reshuffling his second-term cabinet , President Thabo Mbeki announced her appointment as Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry . At the same time, he announced that he would appoint
1200-558: The East African Community to form the African Free Trade Zone , including all members of each of the organizations. The leaders of the three trading blocs agreed to create a single free trade zone, the African Free Trade Zone, consisting of 26 countries with a GDP of an estimated $ 624bn (£382.9bn). It is hoped the African Free Trade Zone agreement would ease access to markets within the zone and end problems arising from
1260-463: The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was created in 1982, and was deeply involved in the political conflict against the ruling National Party. The union embraced four "pillars" of action - armed struggle, mass mobilisation ( ungovernability ), international solidarity, and underground operation. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was formed in 1985, and FOSATU merged into it in
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#17330851252991320-725: The South African National Defence Force , the National Intelligence Agency or the South African Secret Service . Bargaining councils are formed by registered trade unions and employers' organisations. They deal with collective agreements, attempt to solve labour disputes and make proposals on labour policies and laws. As well, they may administer pension funds, sick pay, unemployment and training schemes and other such benefits for their members. The Amended Labour Relations Act also notes that
1380-698: The South African Trades Union Council (SATUC) was formed with 30,000 members of black trade unions with Bill Andrews as its secretary. It would attract black trade unions from the dry-cleaning, furniture, sweets and automobile industries. By the 1930s the South African Trades and Labour Council (SATLC) had united much of the country. The SATLC maintained an explicitly non-racial stance, and accepted affiliation of black trade unions, as well as calling for full legal rights for black trade unionists. Some black unions joined SATLC, while in
1440-684: The Southern Africa Customs Union , Zambia is a part of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , and Tanzania is a member of the East African Community . According to Human Rights Watch, "SADC has been criticized for its laxity on making human rights compliance within its member states a priority". The organization has six principal bodies: Except for the Tribunal (based in Windhoek , Namibia), SNCs and Secretariat, decision-making
1500-596: The 1880s. From the beginning unions could be viewed as a reflection of the racial disunity of the country, with the earliest unions being predominantly for white workers. Through the turbulent years of 1948–1991 trade unions played an important part in developing political and economic resistance, and eventually were one of the driving forces in realising the transition to an inclusive democratic government. Today trade unions are still an important force in South Africa , with 3.11 million members representing 25.3% of
1560-801: The 1940s others affiliated with the Council of Non-European Trade Unions , raising it to a peak of 119 unions and 158,000 members in 1945. In 1946, the CNETU with the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party pushed for the African Mine Workers' Strike to become a General Strike. The strike was broken by the police brutality which was part of the rise of the National Party (NP) and their slogan of apartheid as all black trade unions were violently suppressed. By 1954 SATLC
1620-476: The ANC appointed her as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Energy . She held that position for 18 months, until Zuma's first cabinet reshuffle on 31 October 2010. In that reshuffle, Zuma restored Thabethe to her former position of Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry; succeeding Maria Ntuli , she served alongside Thandi Tobias as deputy to Davies, who had been promoted to Minister. She continued in
1680-769: The CUSA, were reported to be arrested under a renewed state of emergency. Also in 1986, CUSA joined with the Azanian Confederation of Trade Unions (AZACTU) to form the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU), and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi created the United Workers' Union of South Africa (UWUSA), particularly to oppose disinvestment in South Africa. The UWUSA eventually faded from view, but not before revelations in July 1991 that it had collaborated with anti-union employers in
1740-590: The FLS and SADCC sometimes differed. SADCC was transformed into SADC on 17 August 1992, with the adoption by the founding members of SADCC and newly independent Namibia of the Windhoek declaration and treaty establishing SADC. The 1992 SADC provided for both socio-economic cooperation and political and security cooperation. In reality, the FLS was dissolved only in 1994, after South Africa's first democratic elections. Subsequent efforts to place political and security cooperation on
1800-547: The National Assembly in the May 2019 general election . Thabethe was born on 26 September 1959. After the end of apartheid, she took postgraduate education in economics at the University of South Africa , where she completed a certificate and an advanced diploma in 2008. Thabethe rose to prominence during apartheid as a trade unionist in the Chemical Workers' Industrial Union (CWIU) in present-day Gauteng . She joined
1860-522: The National Assembly, she was special investment envoy to President Cyril Ramaphosa until her death in March 2021. Thabethe rose to prominence in the leadership of the Chemical Workers' Industrial Union , and she was elected to Parliament in the 1994 general election as a delegate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions . In the National Assembly, she served as an ANC whip from 1996 to 2004 and then as
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1920-431: The SADC has a total of 16 member states : Burundi has requested to join. The origins of SADC are in the 1960s and 1970s, when the leaders of majority-ruled countries and national liberation movements coordinated their political, diplomatic and military struggles to bring an end to colonial and white-minority rule in southern Africa. The immediate forerunner of the political and security cooperation leg of today's SADC
1980-858: The bloc's bargaining power when negotiating international deals. Pursuant to the SADC goal of more integration, Botswana and Namibia signed an agreement in February 2023 allowing citizens to travel between the two countries using only identity cards, with passports no longer being needed. Botswana has held talks with Zimbabwe to achieve a similar deal, and expects to open talks with Zambia. SADC countries face many social, development, economic, trade, education, health, diplomatic, defence, security and political challenges. Some of these challenges cannot be tackled effectively by individual members. Cattle diseases and organised-crime gangs know no boundaries. War in one country can suck in its neighbours and damage their economies. The sustainable development that trade could bring
2040-448: The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs from 2004 to 2005. Between 2005 and 2019, Thabethe was a deputy minister under four consecutive presidents. President Thabo Mbeki appointed her to the government as Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry in June 2005, and she held that position until May 2009 under Mbeki and his successor, President Kgalema Motlanthe . After
2100-466: The councils are to "extend the services and functions of the bargaining council to workers in the informal sector and home workers". Agency Shop Agreements are struck by a majority trade union (either one union or a coalition of unions representing the majority of workers employed) and an employer or employers' organisation. The agreement requires employers to deduct a fee from the wages of non-union workers to "ensure that non-union workers, who benefit from
2160-409: The covered workplace to join unions, may be struck if two thirds of the workers vote in favour of the agreement. Workers must then join the union or face dismissal. In addition, "if a union expels a member or refuses to allow a new worker to become a union member, and if this expulsion or refusal is in accordance with the union’s constitution or is for a fair reason, then the employer will have to dismiss
2220-429: The deputy ministry until the May 2014 general election , in which she was elected to her fifth and final term in the National Assembly. Announcing his second-term cabinet on 25 May 2014, Zuma appointed Thabethe as Deputy Minister of Small Business Development – a newly established portfolio, led by Minister Lindiwe Zulu . In the early hours of 31 March 2017, Zuma announced a major cabinet reshuffle in which Thabethe
2280-428: The fact that several of the member countries belong to multiple groups. The African Free Trade Zone effective has been more than a hundred years in the making—a trade zone spanning the whole African continent from Cape to Cairo and envisioned by Cecil Rhodes and other British imperialists in the 1890s. The only difference is that the African Free Trade Zone is the creation of independent African Countries. The idea
2340-662: The formal work force. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is the largest of the three major trade union centres, with a membership of 1.8 million, and is part of the Tripartite alliance with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Early trade unions were often for whites only, with organizations like the South African Confederation of Labour (SACoL) favouring employment policies based on racial discrimination. They also often did not fully accept women into
2400-414: The framework of a SADC-Customs Union. Since these SADC countries formed four different groupings to negotiate and implement different Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union, the chance to establish a SADC-wide common external tariff as prerequisite for a regional customs union is missed. On Wednesday 22 October 2008, SADC joined with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa and
2460-713: The goals of reducing industrial relations conflict, eliminating unfair discrimination and redressing past discrimination in the workplace: the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), the Labour Court and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). With the creation of the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) from the merger of the Federation of South African Labour Unions (FEDSAL) and several smaller unions in 1997,
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2520-674: The implementation of the SADC Protocol on Trade in 2000 laid the foundation for its formation. Its original members were Botswana , Lesotho , Madagascar , Mauritius , Mozambique , Namibia , South Africa , Eswatini , Tanzania , Zambia and Zimbabwe , with Malawi and Seychelles joining later. Of the 15 SADC member states, only Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo are not yet participating, however Angolan trade minister Joffre Van-Dúnen Júnior said in Luanda that his ministry
2580-731: The last three terms, from April 2004 onwards, she represented the Gauteng constituency . During her first decade in Parliament, as an ordinary Member of Parliament, Thabethe served in several different portfolio committees and was a member of both the ANC Women's Parliamentary Caucus and of the Multi-Party Women's Caucus. She also represented Parliament at the Southern African Development Community , and from 1996 onwards she
2640-485: The majority victory of the ANC in the 1994 political elections . Trade unions are recognized within the 1996 Constitution of South Africa , which provides for the right to join trade unions and for unions to bargain collectively and strike. That has translated into the Labour Relations Act , which established the working framework for both unions and employers. Three institutions have also been created to further
2700-469: The right to strike and the recourse to lockouts and providing mechanisms for dispute resolution and the establishment of Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court as superior courts "with exclusive jurisdiction to decide matters arising from the Act". The act also addresses employee participation in decisionmaking and international law obligations in respect to labour relations. The Labour Relations Act does not apply to
2760-471: The ruling ANC, it has been at odds with the government by calling for the rollout of comprehensive public access to antiretroviral drugs. The Labour Relations Act was passed in 1995 and experienced major amendments in 1996 1998 and 2002. Its stated purpose is to "give effect to section 27 of the Constitution" by regulating organisational rights of trade unions, promoting collective bargaining , regulating
2820-418: The same year (more formally known in the teaching industry). The largest strike up to that date in South Africa's history took place on 1 May 1986, when 1.5 million black workers "stayed away" in a demand for recognition of an official May Day holiday. In the following June up to 200 trade union officials, including Elijah Barayi and Jay Naidoo of the COSATU, and Phiroshaw Camay , the general secretary of
2880-499: The three main union organizations were established. COSATU, with a membership of 1.8 million, is followed by FEDUSA with 560,000 members and NACTU with almost 400,000 members including the powerful mineworkers union. All three are affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation . A fourth national trade union centre was formed in 2003. The Confederation of South African Workers' Unions (CONSAWU)
2940-418: The trade union arm of the ANC. The union grew to a membership of 53,000 by 1961, but was driven underground, and for a decade black unionism was again virtually silenced in South Africa. In 1979 the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) was formed, with the Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) being created in the following year. What was to become one of the largest unions in South Africa,
3000-539: The union in 1983 at her workplace and rose through its ranks from shop steward to national executive member. A protegé of Bertha Gxowa , she was influential as one of the few women in the trade union movement at the time. CWIU was a founding affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Tripartite Alliance partner of the African National Congress (ANC). Ahead of South Africa's first democratic elections in April 1994, Thabethe stood as
3060-621: The unions. Mary Fitzgerald is considered the first female South African trade unionist and who led many strikes and sit ins before 1911. The first trade union to organise black workers was the Industrial Workers of Africa (IWA), formed in September 1917 by the revolutionary syndicalist International Socialist League (ISL). The IWA merged into the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union of Africa (ICU), formed in 1919, in 1920. The ICU
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#17330851252993120-480: The union’s bargaining efforts, make a contribution towards those efforts". Permission from the employee is not required for deductions to be assessed. However, employee who are conscientious objectors and refuse membership in a trade union on the grounds of conscience, they may request for their fees to be paid to a fund administered by the Department of Labour. Closed shop agreements, which require all workers in
3180-659: The use of rubber bullets, which in the case of striking truck drivers, led to injuries." South Africa has one of the largest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world, with a 2005 estimate of 5.5 million people living with HIV, 12.4% of its population. The trade union movement has taken a role in combating that pandemic. COSATU is a key partner in the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a registered charity and political force working to educate and promote understanding about HIV/AIDS, and to prevent new infections, as well as push for greater access to antiretrovirals . COSATU passed
3240-489: The worker. This dismissal is not considered unfair". Conscientious objectors may not be dismissed for refusing to join the union. Restrictions on closed shops include the requirements not to compel workers to be trade union members before obtaining employment and for dues collected from employees to be used only to "advance or protect the socio-economic interests of workers". Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community ( SADC )
3300-457: Was an ANC whip . After the April 2004 general election , at the outset of the Third Parliament , the ANC selected Thabethe for election as chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs. In that position she succeeded Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde , who had been elected as Deputy Speaker . During this period she also served a term as deputy chairperson of the Gauteng branch of
3360-582: Was disbanded, and with the formation of the Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA) union membership included white, coloured, and Asians, with blacks in dependent organizations. Independent black unions were excluded from affiliation and 14 previous unions from SATLC founded the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). SACTU merged with the Council of Non-European Trade Unions and became
3420-603: Was initially a union for black and coloured dockworkers in Cape Town and formed by Clements Kadalie and Arthur F. Batty. It was the first nationally organized union for black workers who would eventually include rural farm workers, domestic and factory workers, dockworkers, teachers and retailers. By the 1920s it was said to be more popular than the ANC and eventually had branches in the Free State, Transvaal and Natal and in 1925 it moved its headquarters to Johannesburg . In 1924,
3480-462: Was moved to the post of Deputy Minister of Tourism, serving under Minister Tokozile Xasa . She served in that position for the rest of the Fifth Parliament , gaining reappointment under President Cyril Ramaphosa ; after he took office in February 2018, Ramaphosa replaced Xasa with Minister Derek Hanekom . In mid-2018, the Parliamentary Monitoring Group reported that Thabethe was one of five incumbent ministers and deputy ministers who had not attended
3540-406: Was the informal Frontline States (FLS) grouping. It was formed in 1980. The Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was the forerunner of the socio-economic cooperation leg of today's SADC. The adoption by nine majority-ruled southern African countries of the Lusaka declaration on 1 April 1980 paved the way for the formal establishment of SADCC in April 1980. Membership of
3600-419: Was to focus on investment in the tourism sector . She also served on Ramaphosa's Presidential Advisory Committee on Investment. Thabethe was seriously injured in a car accident in Katlehong, Gauteng on 29 January 2021. After waking from a coma , she was in rehabilitation for her injuries in March when her health worsened; she died in hospital on 26 March. She was buried at Heroes' Acre on 3 April after
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