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In a statement COSATU said it remains "convinced that Walmart’s takeover is not in the best interests of this country and will continue to oppose the deal."

It also said that "given Walmart’s size and notorious business practices around the world, the Tribunal should have weighed the supposed value of Walmart’s investment in South Africa against its foreseeable adverse impact on jobs and conditions, in both the retail sector and in manufacturing and other sectors that feed into the supply chain to Massmart such as agriculture, agro-processing, chemicals, clothing and textiles."

COSATU also cited UNI's documentation of Walmart's anti-union attitude in some countries and its relentless focus on low-cost items and labour.

"Walmart has refused to sign a global agreement with UNI Global Union on fair standards for worker and union rights to organise and negotiate collective agreements. It faces numerous class action law suits, affecting hundreds of thousands of workers for, among other things, not paying overtime, gender, racial and other forms of discrimination."

UNI has formed a global alliance with commerce unions around the world, including the South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU), the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) of North America, to protect worker and union rights at Walmart.

You can read the full statement from COSATU here.