President Cyril Ramaphosa and SACP general-secretary Solly Mapaila (left) at Cosatu’s 40th anniversary rally on 6 December 2025 at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto. Nigel Sibanda/ The Citizen President Cyril Ramaphosa admitted that both the ANC and trade union federation Cosatu are facing many challenges, but said this cannot diminish their achievements over many decades. The president said this at Cosatu’s 40thanniversary rally at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto on Saturday.
He said both the ANC and the Cosatu needs to use their weaknesses to renew themselves. “What we are going through now is a dip, and all organisations go through challenges and moments of weakness, but it is out of those weaknesses that they are able to renew themselves and rebuild themselves,” said Ramaphosa. On the sidelines of Cosatu’s rally, with the large number of empty seats being conspicuous, he referred to the diminishing membership of Cosatu.
“It may not have two million members today, but the backbone of Cosatu is still there, as the backbone of the ANC is still there. “So what we can do now is to rebuild, is to renew ourselves so that we go back to our glory days.” President Cyril Ramaphosa has admitted that the ANC and its alliances are going through a rough patch but say they will renew and rebrand to their former selves. Ramaphosa noted a decline in the membership of trade union Cosatu, as well as the ANC.
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Cosatu celebrated its 40th…pic.twitter.com/27AQrcDLHe Cosatu’s 40thanniversary comes as the tripartite alliance – between Cosatu, the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) – has shown cracks. Ramaphosa, however, said the ANC is working to strengthen the alliance.
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