News24 | Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi warns inequality fuels Afrophobia, economic collapse in SA

Outgoing Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi has called for unity in the interest of the working class ahead of individual ambitions or factional interests.

Fani Mahuntsi/Gallo Images

• Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi advocates for AfCFTA implementation to address poverty, inequality, and xenophobia in South Africa.
• Losi calls for job creation, vocational training, and tackling tax evasion to reduce unemployment and protect local industries.
• Anti-migrant protests in Durban and Soweto turned violent, prompting SAPS and SANDF deployments.
• For more political news, visit News24 Politics.

The outgoing president of trade union federation Cosatu, Zingiswa Losi, has warned that “South Africa cannot remain an island of prosperity in a sea of poverty” and that implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a stepping stone to addressing these issues.

“We must not only condemn all forms of xenophobia and Afrophobia, but tackle their causes. The causes of mass migration, in particular human rights abuses and mass unemployment, must be tackled if we are to ensure not only South Africa’s but the entire continent’s upliftment,” Losi said.

Delivering her president’s address at the reconvened 15th national Cosatu congress at Emperors Palace in Boksburg on Monday, Losi said the rolling out of the AfCFTA will be key to this journey.

As South Africa faces a 43.8% unemployment rate, Losi argued the country is aware of the same right-wing prejudice seen in Europe, Brazil and the US if inequality remains unaddressed.

“Therefore, addressing inequality starts with holding employers who exploit their employees accountable, while ensuring that employers who refuse to pay their workers their rightful wages are charged and arrested accordingly,” said Losi.

Furthermore, Losi said, working to ease the financial burdens that the working and middle classes experience by tackling tax evasion and customs fraud can further protect local jobs and industries.

Losi emphasised that job protection also requires job creation.

She added that redesigning employment programmes means bringing back technical or vocational training, which would equip the youth with useful skills they can use to trade.

Also, Losi said, this would help decrease youth unemployment.

“It is time to ramp up public employment programmes and revive artisanships to provide a pathway to permanent employment for millions of unemployed youth,” she said.

SADTU General Secretary,Mugwena Maluleke has welcomed COSATU’s determination to conclude its 15th National Congress, calling for unity,love and organisational renewal.Expects delegates to adopt policies addressing poverty, unemployment,and violence against teachers and learners. pic.twitter.com/ppCHMnZ5Lt

— SADTU National. (@SadtuNational) October 13, 2026

Addressing the anti-illegal immigrant sentiment directly, Losi said the “enemy” was not the migrant but the “unemployment and exploitation, poverty and inequality, crime and corruption, racism and sexism, homophobia and gender-based violence”.

She further argued that the real fight is not between South Africans and people from other African countries, but rather over the economic conditions that leave both groups competing for the same precarious jobs.

The recent anti-illegal immigrant protests follow the Constitutional Court’s July ruling on asylum applications.

In September, Home Affairs was given the directive to implement the ruling, which overwhelmed Refugee Reception Offices in Durban and Soweto, resulting in anti-migrant protests.

READ | Cosatu president calls for unity amid factional tensions at congress rerun

Last Thursday, protests turned violent when a total of 24 vehicles were torched, and foreign-owned shops were looted in Soweto and Durban. In an effort to reduce chaos and violence, SAPS reinforced public-order deployments.

The SA National Defence Force was also deployed to restore calm.

After protestors marched to their nearest Home Affairs offices to disrupt asylum applications, the department withdrew the directive over the weekend, saying it would seek a new way to comply with the court order.

The Cosatu congress will continue on Tuesday until Wednesday.