The South African Communist Party (SACP) sends heartfelt condolences to the family of Comrade Ronald Mofokeng, the former National Treasurer of the Congress of South Africa Trade Union. Mofokeng died on Saturday, 4 July 2020.

The SACP also sends its deepest condolences to his federation, Cosatu, as well as to the entire working class.

Hailing from Bethlehem in the Free State Province, Mofokeng came from a working-class background, living in poverty. His first job was in the 1960s with a firm called Scotts Trupo – later changed to Stewart and Lloyds. His active involvement in labour politics, however, began when he worked at PG Glass in Germiston in Gauteng in 1971. There he was elected chairperson of the liaison committee. Together with other workers, they formed the Glass and Allied Workers Union.

His sterling work in the workers’ movement saw him elected the Treasurer of the Chemical Workers' Industrial Union (CWIU). In 1981, at the union’s second congress, after the Glass and Allied Workers Union merged with CWIU in the late 1970s.

In the early 1980s, Mofokeng became part of the discussions to form Cosatu, under the slogan “one industry one union, one country one federation”. Their hard work to unite the workers bore fruits as Cosatu was formed in 1985 under the leadership of Comrade Elijah Barayi as President. In 1987 Mofokeng became Cosatu’s National Treasurer, a few years after serving at the federation’s regional treasurer.

His work in the trade union movement was inspirational. He was admired by workers particularly for striving for worker-control in the affairs of workers and also for being incorruptible. 

He did not limit himself to the balancing of financial books of his unions, however. His practical activism in the fight against the apartheid regime is well acknowledged and respected within the progressive movement and society at large. He understood the synergy between workers’ collective bargaining and the struggle to dismantle apartheid. He was thus part of the defiance campaigns and for his work attracted the brutal attention of apartheid’s security forces. He had to spend some time avoiding the police and often had his home raided. He was also arrested for his political work. In Zambia, he joined the SACP during the discussions on getting ready to govern.

In 1999, Mofokeng started serving in Parliament following deployment by Cosatu. In Parliament he served as the chairperson of the Minerals and Energy portfolio committee, among other tasks. He had earlier (in 1994) opted to remain within the labour movement to serve parliament, despite direct request from Comrade Nelson Mandela to be part of parliament, reasoning that at that time it was more critical to remain and serve the labour movement.

In honour of Comrade Ronald Mofokeng, the SACP calls for intensification of the work to unite workers of our country, and will make its contribution towards that goal. The SACP will continue to play its vanguard role in building popular Left front to strengthen the driving of the second, more radical phase of the national democratic revolution.

Issued by The SACP