Violet Seboni: TUC sends condolences to South African trade union movement

Violet Seboni: TUC sends condolences to South African trade union movement after death of COSATU Deputy President and textile workers' leader

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber and TUC President Sheila Bearcroft have sent condolences to Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) after the death of COSATU Deputy President Violet Seboni on Friday 3 April. She died in a road traffic accident on her way to election campaigning in Mafikeng.

In their message, Brendan and Sheila stressed the continuing solidarity between British workers and South African workers, and their great respect for the work of Sister Seboni, who, like Sheila Bearcroft, was a textile workers' leader at home and internationally. They extended the British trade union movement's sympathy to Violet's family, friends and colleagues.

The official COSATU statement on Violet Seboni's death is as follows:

COSATU mourns the passing away of its Deputy President, Violet Seboni

With deep sadness, the Congress of South African Trade Unions regrets to report the passing away of its Deputy President, Violet Seboni, in a car accident near Ventersdorp on Friday 3 April 2009. She was on her way to Mafikeng, where she was to participate in ANC election campaigning.

The federation sends its condolences to all her family, friends and comrades, who have lost a great champion of the workers' struggle and a wonderful person.

Violet was an exceptional workers' leader. She was first elected as a shop steward in the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) in 1989 and in 1999 became the first woman chairperson of her branch. She served in the regional executive of SACTWU and was elected as the union's First Vice-President. She was elected as COSATU's Second Deputy President in 2003.

At SACTWU'S 2004 National Congress, she was elected as 1st Deputy President of this clothing, textile and leather trade union. In 2005, she was also elected as a Vice-President for the Africa Region of the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers' Federation (ITGLWF), a global union federation of textile, garment and leather trade unions. She was also a member of the Brussels-based ITGLWF's international Executive Committee, representing her union SACTWU.

During her lifetime, Violet has served in all structures of SACTWU, from factory level (where she started as a shop steward in 1989) right up to the national structures of the union. She has served in the union's East Rand branch structures, on the union's Gauteng Regional Executive Committee, on the union's National Co-ordinating Committee as well as on the SACTWU National Executive Committee. Besides her work in COSATU, she was also an endless campaigner for a better and more sustained future for clothing, textile and leather workers.

She was also a member of the SACTWU clothing industry wage negotiating team for more than a decade.

She has played a broader role to advance the interests of the labour movement in general, in many other areas. She also served as Vice President of OATUU until 2008, as well as in the International Garment, Leather and Textile Workers Federation where she diligently represented our affiliate, SACTWU over the years.

At the most recent National Co-ordinating Committee meeting of SACTWU, held in mid-February this year, she spoke passionately about the importance for a decisive ANC victory in the April 2009 general elections.

Violet was born on 18 September 1965. She was a single mother and leaves behind two daughters: Lesego (24 years) and Lesedi (12 years).

The union movement has lost a great worker leader, a person who was passionate about a better life for clothing, textile and leather workers in particular and all workers nationally and globally in general.

SACTWU and COSATU are consulting the Seboni family about funeral arrangements and details there-of will be announced in due course. A fuller tribute will be paid to Violet at her funeral.

In a separate development earlier on the morning of Friday 3rd April 2009, Phillip Nyai, an ex-Deputy President of SACTWU, was killed by three unknown gunmen outside his factory in Gauteng. Phillip and Violet were great friends and her last discussion with the SACTWU President (Themba Khumalo), just hours before she was killed in the car accident on Friday evening, related to funeral arrangements for Phillip.