Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 29 June 2026
Norman Mampane
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Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin
‘Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense’-Maoo
Our side of the story
29 June 2026
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU congratulates NEHAWU newly elected leadership
- South Africa
- COSATU is deeply concerned about the shortage of prosecutors at the NPA
- COSATU Gauteng demands decisive action following revelation of 41 alleged corruption cases in gauteng schools
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Oil and gas workers demand Just Transition and corporate accountability
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
COSATU congratulates NEHAWU newly elected leadership
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 29 June 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) congratulates the new leadership collective of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) elected at the 13th National Congress.
NEHAWU has emerged from the Congress with Nyameka Macanda, the union’s former 1st Deputy President, elected as its second woman President. Patrick Makhafane, previously the 2nd Deputy President, is now the 1st Deputy President. While Linda Nthulane is now the 2nd Deputy President. Kgomotso Makhupola, has retained her position as National Treasurer and so has General Secretary, Zola Saphetha.
Welcome Mnisi has been elected 1st Deputy Secretary, while Baxolise Mali occupies the newly created position of 2nd Deputy Secretary.
NEHAWU’s Congress was held at the Birchwood Hotel & Conference Centre in Boksburg from 26 to 29 June.
COSATU wishes the new national leadership well as it takes control at a time when workers face numerous challenges including high unemployment, stagnant economic growth, escalating cost of living, ever-increasing workload due to a thinning public service wrought on by austerity budgets.
The Federation thanks the outgoing leadership for their tireless efforts on behalf of NEHAWU’s members and the working class to strengthen the hard-won rights of workers, defend the developmental role of the state and lay the path to building socialism.
COSATU once again pledges its unwavering support to the new leadership collective of our militant and revolutionary Affiliate and is heartened by the consistent support it receives from NEHAWU.
Issued by COSATU
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU is deeply concerned about the shortage of prosecutors at the NPA
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 29 June 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is deeply concerned about the reported shortage of prosecutors at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Media headlines raised worries about 47 highly skilled and seasoned prosecutors’ early retirements being approved and the consequential loss of badly needed experience. More alarming still are reports about an estimated vacancy rate of up to 600 prosecutors.
This takes place against the background of a society battling to cope with unacceptable levels of crime, corruption and often highly sophisticated and well-resourced criminal syndicates.
NPA prosecutors sitting with an average case load of 150 to 300 dockets annually, double the international benchmark recommended, simply cannot afford to lose a single prosecutor, let alone cope with an estimated 15% vacancy rate
Budget cuts have real consequences upon the ability of public services to deliver their constitutional and developmental mandates. The NPA, a state organ whose primary source of expenditure must be its highly skilled personnel, simply does not have the fat for further cuts nor the luxury to abandon its duty to prosecute criminals.
When the NPA is not provided with the necessary resources it needs to win the war against crime and corruption, it is society who pays the price in painfully high levels of crime, particularly in working class communities. It is workers who foot the pay with public services bleeding scarce resources to corruption and an economy struggling to attract the investment needed to stimulate growth and create jobs.
If we are to ensure that the economy is lifted from the jobless 1% growth rate it has been stuck at for more than a decade to reach the 3% plus needed to make a meaningful dent in our dangerously high unemployment rate of 43.7%, then government must provide frontline state organs, in particular the NPA, with the resources needed to provide the public services that the economy requires. The current public anger over crime and unemployment, including unmanaged migration, point to the real dangers and costs of neglecting state capacity in pursuit of budget cuts.
COSATU will seek urgent engagements with government to ensure that October’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement marks a decisive break away from the painful austerity budget cuts of the past towards investing in a capacitated state machinery, in particular the NPA and other law enforcement institutions such as the Police, National Defence Force, Home Affairs and the Border Management Authority.
Issued by COSATU
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COSATU Gauteng demands decisive action following revelation of 41 alleged corruption cases in gauteng schools
Louisah Moepeng Modikwe, COSATU Provincial Secretary, 29 June 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Gauteng is deeply disturbed by the Gauteng Department of Education's disclosure that it has uncovered 41 cases of alleged corruption, fraud, financial mismanagement and maladministration across schools in the province.
The findings, which implicate principals, School Governing Body (SGB) members, educators, administrative staff and service providers, expose a serious betrayal of the trust placed in those responsible for safeguarding public education.
Every rand stolen from our schools is a rand stolen from a learner. Corruption in education denies children access to quality learning environments, decent infrastructure, learner support materials, school nutrition, and the opportunities they deserve. It is the children of working-class and poor families who suffer the greatest consequences when public resources are looted.
COSATU Gauteng commends the Gauteng Department of Education for undertaking the internal investigation and exposing these alleged acts of corruption. We welcome the commitment by the department to refer criminal matters to law enforcement agencies, including the Hawks, and call for swift investigations, prosecutions and disciplinary action against all those found guilty, regardless of their position or status.
The Federation further calls for:
· The department to take appropriate actions for those alleged to have unduly benefited pending the outcomes of the investigation.
- The recovery of all public funds lost through fraud and corruption.
- Stronger financial controls and governance systems in schools to prevent future abuse.
- Regular audits of school finances and procurement processes.
- Enhanced protection for whistleblowers who expose corruption within the education sector.
COSATU Gauteng wishes to emphasise that the overwhelming majority of educators and education workers remain committed professionals who continue to serve learners with dedication despite difficult working conditions. The criminal conduct of a few individuals must not tarnish the reputation of thousands of honest public servants who work tirelessly to build a better education system.
Education is a constitutional right and a cornerstone of social and economic development. Corruption undermines this right and robs future generations of the opportunities they deserve. Those entrusted with managing public resources must understand that public office is a public trust, not an opportunity for personal enrichment.
COSATU Gauteng remains committed to working with government, workers, communities and law enforcement agencies to eradicate corruption and ensure that every cent allocated to education reaches its intended purpose—the education and development of our children.
Issued by COSATU Gauteng
International-Solidarity
Oil and gas workers demand Just Transition and corporate accountability
29 June, 2026
IndustriALL Global Union had its Global Oil and Gas Network virtual meeting on 25 June 2026, bringing together affiliate unions from across the world
to confront a common crisis: workers in the oil and gas sector are being squeezed by geopolitical conflict, market volatility, corporate attacks on union rights and an energy transition that is moving faster than the jobs and infrastructure needed to support
it.
Emmanuel Adjei-Danso, IndustriALL director for mining and energy, opened the discussion by framing the structural pressures reshaping the sector: price instability, sanctions regimes, supply chain disruptions and the accelerating energy transition. He drew
out the central question that would run through the day: how do workers and their unions ensure that the transition is fair and that no one is left behind?
Regional voices: workers at the frontlines
Prosper Akrai, representing the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) of Nigeria described the cascading consequences of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy removal in May 2023. The retail price of petrol has risen by approximately 643 per cent. Food
costs have surged, consuming close to 80 per cent of an average worker’s monthly income. The naira has collapsed. Workers face simultaneous wage erosion, casualization of employment and a worsening security situation.
Prosper Akrai also flagged a direct attack on union rights. NUPENG and its sister union have faced an organized campaign by Dangote Refinery, which deployed media, social media influencers and politicians to undermine the unions’ public standing after they
demanded workers be allowed the right to organize.
From the United States, Mike Smith, chair of the national oil bargaining programme for the United Steelworkers (USW), reported that BP has locked out approximately 900 workers at its Whiting, Indiana refinery since March 2026. BP refused to match a pattern
agreement reached with Marathon and is demanding the conversion of 100 union jobs to contract positions, multiple wage scales,and a management rights clause that would remove workers’ ability to bargain over the impact of artificial intelligence. Replacement
workers, paid two and a half times the union rate, are now running the 400,000 barrel-per-day facility at reduced capacity.
“We will continue to reach out if there are any engagements in any countries. We are going to chase British Petroleum across the world,”
Mike Smith said. He thanked IndustriALL and Unite for solidarity actions, including at BP’s shareholder meeting in London.
Naoki Kashima, executive chair of the JEC-Rengo Petroleum Subcommittee (Japan), described how Japan’s dependence on the Strait of Hormuz for more than 90 per cent of its crude oil imports makes it acutely exposed to regional conflict. Any disruption risks driving
up energy, food and logistics costs, potentially wiping out the wage gains Japanese unions have achieved in recent years.
Hassan Juma, president of the Iraqi General Federation of Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Unions (IGFOGPU), delivered the most urgent testimony of the day. Oil production in Iraq has fallen by approximately 70 per cent as a result of regional conflict. Over 2,500
workers employed by multinational companies have been sent home without wages. The multinationals have left; the workers have not been paid.
“The first and last person who is impacted is the worker contracted by these multinational companies, because they still have not been paid their wages since the beginning of the war,” Juma said. “They do not have healthcare, they do not have health insurance.”
He described workers labouring in temperatures reaching 47 degrees Celsius in Basra, with field conditions climbing to 50 and 60 degrees in summer. Iraq’s economy, he said, depends on oil revenues for 85 per cent of its federal budget, leaving wages, pensions
and public services entirely exposed to the disruption.
Tina Wilhelm of IGBCE (Germany) closed the regional panel by describing the structural contradiction facing Europe. Fossil energy remains essential for industrial stability, but long-term demand is uncertain. Companies are under-investing in both existing infrastructure
and future technologies and workers lack clarity on what their futures will look like. She argued that the energy transition will only succeed if it is industrially viable and socially just, with workers recognized as active shapers of the process, not passive
recipients of its consequences.
Holding capital accountable: Global Framework Agreements
Kemal Özkan IndustriALL assistant general secreatry outlined IndustriALL’s strategy of using Global Framework Agreements to hold multinationals to labour standards across their entire supply chains, regardless of what national law requires.
“Global Framework Agreements provide the leverage for our core business: union organizing,” Özkan said. “Through the clauses where the employer commits to respect freedom of association and collective bargaining, we also make an important move around social
dialogue.”
He reported that IndustriALL’s agreement with ENI was renewed in January 2026, with new commitments on human rights due diligence and the integration of ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment. Agreements with TotalEnergies and Engie are also active,
the latter including an explicit commitment to Just Transition and sustainable employment. He called for renewed engagement with Petrobras following Brazilian elections in October 2026 and reaffirmed IndustriALL’s full solidarity with the USW workers locked
out by BP.
Conclusions: solidarity, heat stress and a multi-year action plan
The conclusions noted that heat stress had emerged as a cross-cutting occupational health issue. IndustriALL and the ILO are in discussion on a programme to address heat stress across the sector, including dedicated training.
Frode Alfheim, co-chair of the IndustriALL Energy Sector and president of Styrke (Norway) closed with a call for global solidarity, reflecting on the testimony from Nigeria and Iraq.
“This is a global industrial issue where we have to work together to make sure they get the support they need,” he said.
He noted that Norway’s success in managing oil revenues for public benefit had its roots in expertise brought from Iraq in the late 1960s and called on the network to build on that history of cross-border knowledge and solidarity.
Participants agreed to develop a multi-year action plan linking affiliate unions across the global oil and gas supply chain.
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Norman Mampane (Shopsteward Editor)
Congress of South African Trade Unions
110 Jorissen Cnr Simmonds Street, Braamfontein, 2017
P.O.Box 1019, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa
Tel: +27 11 339-4911 Direct line: 010 219-1348