SATU is the South African Typographical Union, the trade union for the printing, packaging and newspaper trades. It has offices in five cities, but one detail decides how you reach it: every office publishes the same telephone number.
Official contact channels
- Telephone, all offices: 012 338 2021
- Email: [email protected]
- Head office: 6 Estcourt Avenue, Centurion, 0157
- The union also publishes individual staff mailboxes for each regional office
The single shared number is not an error on their part. Calls for Durban, Cape Town, Gqeberha and Johannesburg all land on the Centurion line, so ask for the region you need rather than expecting a local office to answer directly. If you want a named regional official, email is the more reliable route and their addresses are listed on the union site.
What this organisation provides
- Trade union representation for workers in the printing, packaging and newspaper industries
- Funeral cover for members and immediate family, with waiting-period terms
- An out of work benefit paid weekly to members who lose their jobs
- An educational fund for members and their dependants
- Access to a medical aid arrangement, which the union addresses directly in its published questions
The benefit questions the union answers most often are about timing. Funeral cover carries waiting periods and claim limits, and a member who joins today generally cannot claim in full tomorrow. Ask for the current terms in writing when you join rather than relying on what a colleague was paid out years ago.
Address and operating information
- Head office, Centurion: 6 Estcourt Avenue, 0157
- Johannesburg office: Wierdapark, Centurion
- Durban: 320 Anton Lembede Street, Durban Central, 4001
- Gqeberha: 49 Worraker Street, Newton Park
- Cape Town: Unit 110, Trevenna Centre, 245 Voortrekker Road, Goodwood, 7460
- No trading hours are published for any office
Note that the office labelled Johannesburg is in Centurion, not in Johannesburg, and sits close to the head office address. If you are travelling to see someone in person, confirm which building you are expected at, because the two Centurion addresses are easy to confuse.
Support and escalation routes
- Membership, benefit and case queries: 012 338 2021 or [email protected]
- A workplace dispute the union takes up is heard at the relevant bargaining council, or at the CCMA where no council has jurisdiction
- Complaints about the union as an organisation go to the Registrar of Labour Relations at the Department of Employment and Labour
- Funeral and other insured benefits are underwritten products; disputes over a declined claim can go to the National Financial Ombud on 0860 800 900
- Unemployment benefits are claimed from the UIF, separately from any union out of work benefit
Keep the union benefit and the statutory one apart. An out of work benefit paid by the union does not replace a UIF claim, and lodging one does not lodge the other. Members who assume the union has handled UIF for them are the ones who discover the gap months later.
Sources
- South African Typographical Union contact page and published questions, satu.co.za, read 3 September 2026