The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) is the largest union in local government in South Africa.

History

The union was founded on 24 October 1987, when the Municipal Workers' Union of South Africa merged with the Cape Town Municipal Workers' Association (CTMWA), and the municipal workers' sections of General Workers' Union of South Africa, South African Allied Workers' Union and

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

. All of these unions were affiliates of the

Congress of South African Trade Unions The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions ...

, to which SAMWU also affiliated. In later years, SAMWU absorbed the

Durban Indian Municipal Employees' Society The Durban Indian Municipal Employees' Society (DIMES) was a trade union representing municipal workers of Indian origin, in Durban in South Africa. The union was founded in 1936, and by 1943, it had 2,450 members. It affiliated to the South Afr ...

and the Union of Johannesburg Municipal Workers. Initially, the union grew rapidly, and by 1994 it had 100,410 members, 31.3% of all eligible workers. The union led opposition to privatisation schemes, and was particularly active in opposing the privatisation of a water treatment plant in

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. In 2002, it led a national three-week strike for higher wages. In 2009, the union's leadership was voted out, and disagreements around this led the Democratic Municipal and Allied Workers' Union of South Africa and the Municipal and Allied Trade Union of South Africa to split away over the next few years. The leadership lost a vote of confidence in 2019 and were replaced. The new leaders found that the union was insolvent, with some having been spent on legal costs and some was used for inappropriate purposes. In addition, membership was in decline. In 2020, the union declared that it might withdraw support for the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

government. Membership of the union is open to South African workers employed, directly or indirectly, in local authorities, water utilities and allied undertakings of the economy whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, including: public administrative services in municipalities and local authorities, health and social services, libraries, cultural and other community services, water and sanitation, solid-waste management and environmental services, road construction and storm-water drainage, electricity generation and distribution, public transportation and traffic control, telecommunication and information services, scientific and technical services, and parks and recreation.

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1987: John Ernstzen :1990s: Roger Ronnie :Walter Theledi :2015: Simon Mathe :2019: Koena Ramotlou :2021: Dumisane Magagula

Presidents

:1987: Petrus Mashishi :2009: Sam Molope : Pule Molalenyane :2019: John Dlamini :2020: Nelson Mokgotho

References

External links

SAMWU
official site. Congress of South African Trade Unions Trade unions in South Africa Trade unions based in Johannesburg Public Services International Trade unions established in 1987 Municipal workers' trade unions {{SouthAfrica-trade-union-stub