The Battle for Cosatu

From his early start as a passionate pro-labour and anti-apartheid campaigner in Britain in the 1960s, to championing and defending the rights of workers in South Africa for the last 30 years, Patrick Craven has become the go-to person for labour-related commentary. In this, Craven’s first book, we are given insight into one of the most tumultuous times for trade unions in post-apartheid South Africa. Drawing strongly on personal recollections, media interpretations and official documents, Craven exposes the breakdown of the tripartite alliance – and the implications of this for South Africa’s labour movement and the country as a whole.

Patrick Craven

Patrick Craven moved to South Africa after having studied at the University of Sussex, where he was involved in the anti-apartheid movement. Craven was variously the Director of the Workers’ Library and Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, the editor of The Shopsteward magazine, and Congress of South African Trade Unions' National Spokesperson from 2006 to 2015.