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The South African Communist Party (SACP) sends its deepest condolences to the family of Amon Ntuli, the founding president of the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU), who died on Friday 8 January 2021 at age of 63.

The SACP also sends its condolences to the entire SACTWU membership, Cosatu and the workers at large.

Ntuli was elected unopposed at the inaugural SACTWU Congress in September 1989, held at the University of the Western Cape. By then, he had already demonstrated, by practical example in workers’ struggles, his unifying character as a leader, and thus enjoyed immense trust and support from clothing and textile workers. He emerged as a decisive and principled leader during the historic 1973 Durban strikes in South Africa. At that time, he was a textile worker and shop steward in Pinetown, at Frame Textiles. Ntuli went on to strengthen working-class power under the union and also contributed to the founding of, and unity of workers, under Cosatu.

Our struggle against apartheid produced many principled working-class leaders who understood that the demands and struggles of workers for better working conditions could not be separated from the struggle against the apartheid system and capitalism. Throughout his leadership days, Ntuli was able to wage these struggles and contributed in no small measure to the conscientisation of workers, particularly by standing firm on the need for shop floor organisation and worker control of trade unions.

In memory of Amon Ntuli, the SACP calls for worker leaders to hasten the drive towards one country one federation principle, while at the same time exercising enough patience to conscientise the masses of the workers on the need to eliminate competition among workers. Leaders must also ensure to effectively use unions to benefit workers, in both the immediate and long terms, something which Ntuli was passionate about. As such, the social support benefits that were set up by the leadership under Ntuli, which continue to benefit workers, must not be abandoned but strengthened.

Issued by The SACP