In a stark year-end assessment, the General Secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), Zwelinzima Vavi, has declared 2025 a “trying year” for workers, marked by mass retrenchments, economic stagnation, and a severe collapse in basic service delivery due to government-imposed austerity measures.
The comments were made during a wide-ranging interview reflecting on the year’s struggles for the labor movement.
Vavi attributed the dire state of public services directly to budget cuts. “We have seen the collapse of basic services due to the weight of austerity measures implemented by the government,” he stated, listing health, education, policing, and the military as sectors “taking a massive strain as a result of budget cuts.”
He framed this within a broader economic crisis, describing an economy that has been stagnant since the 2008 global financial crisis, is “deindustrializing at an alarming rate,” and shedding jobs. He cited a dramatic fall in manufacturing’s contribution to GDP from 22% in 1994 to between 11-12% today, with only 9% of jobs now in the sector.
Global Forces and Policy Missteps Cited
When pressed on the causes of deindustrialization, Vavi pointed to historical government policy. He argued that post-1994 administrations too quickly embraced neoliberal policies from institutions like the IMF and World Bank, removing tariff protections faster than required. This, he claimed, led to “dumping” of goods from East Asia, particularly China, which “decimated” local industries like clothing, textiles, and footwear. He also cited corruption at borders as exacerbating the problem.
Unions in Crisis: Fragmentation and Lost Relevance
The interview took a critical turn inward as Vavi addressed the state of the trade union movement itself. He identified “fragmentation, disunity, and misleadership at the top” as its main crisis, lamenting the failure of South Africa’s four major labor federations to hold a unified May Day celebration as a symbol of this disarray.
“This disunity is only helping the other side in class terms to continue to exploit workers at will,” Vavi said. While acknowledging unions still represent over three million workers—making them the largest organized civil society group—he conceded they are falling short of their potential.
He traced a decline from the “golden years” up to 2007, when union density was around 40%, to today’s figure of approximately 24%. He blamed a loss of founding traditions like worker control, democracy, and training, with leadership distracted by political ambitions instead of workplace protection.
An Existential Challenge for Labor
In response to questions about union relevance in a modern economy of tech, services, and gig work, Vavi was blunt: “Not anywhere close to their real potential.” He emphasized that the movement’s focus has drifted from its core mission, leaving newer, younger workers in evolving sectors largely unserved.
Vavi concluded that only a unified and refocused trade union movement could “revive the country,” but warned that the dream of a single powerful federation was “disappearing in front of our eyes.”
The interview concluded with technical difficulties as Vavi, speaking from a rural area, highlighted the persistent digital divide before signing off.