Cosatu 'pleasantly surprised' by reception in Washington DC

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks.

Listen below:

'Pleasantly surprised' is how Cosatu has described its reception in Washington last week.

The union was part of a group of South African business and labour leaders who embarked on the unofficial visit to gauge the current temperature of US-South Africa relations.

With concerns over potential US tariffs under President Donald Trump’s 'Liberation Day' policy, the delegation met with American politicians, trade officials, and think tanks.

Parks says the visit was part of ongoing efforts to stabilise relations with the US.

"Relations have always been a bit rocky... this year, it's a little bit more rocky."

- Matthew Parks, Parliamentary coordinator - Cosatu

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"I think all of them indicated a desire to see how US-South Africa relations can be stabilised, can be rebuilt and how they could be enhanced from a trade, investment and jobs perspective."

- Matthew Parks, Parliamentary coordinator - Cosatu

Parks says the delegation's main task was to get a lay of the land and to feed information back to the South African government.

"But always from the perspective of a South African worker - clothing worker, a mining worker - because we have such a high unemployment rate."

- Matthew Parks, Parliamentary coordinator - Cosatu

Parks adds that the trip was important also in light of what he calls some 'confused South Africans' who have made similar trips to the US to 'blatantly sow untruths' to Washington.

It was important to set the record straight, he says.

"So, we also needed to... [say] there is no white genocide. There are no white land grabs, etc."

- Matthew Parks, Parliamentary coordinator - Cosatu

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