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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
8 July 2026
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Contents
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
SISA
Statement: SACCAWU rejects Sun International's Section 189a Retrenchment process as a betrayal of its public mandate, licensing obligations and South Africa's employment commitments
Jerry
Thabo Mmoneri, SACCAWU Deputy General Secretary, 8 July 2026
The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) unequivocally rejects Sun International South Africa's decision to embark upon another Section 189A retrenchment process.
The union regards this exercise as legally defective, procedurally unfair, socially irresponsible and fundamentally inconsistent with the public-interest obligations attached to gaming licences issued by Provincial Gambling and Gaming Boards.
Following
the first CCMA-facilitated consultation, SACCAWU convened a national meeting to assess the employer's presentation and proposals. Our assessment revealed significant legal, procedural and substantive shortcomings that call into question both the legitimacy
of the consultation process and the employer's commitment to meaningful engagement as required by the Labour Relations Act.
Most concerning is that departments within the company have already undergone retrenchments, while other departments have been scheduled for retrenchment, before meaningful consultations with organised labour have been concluded. SACCAWU is only meeting with
the employer today in respect of this process, yet decisions affecting employees have already been implemented elsewhere.
This conduct strikes at the very heart of Section 189A of the Labour Relations Act, which requires employers to consult before decisions are implemented. Consultation cannot become a ceremonial exercise where management has already predetermined outcomes. Such unilateral conduct undermines the purpose of the law, frustrates consensus-seeking and renders the consultation process fundamentally defective.
SACCAWU is therefore seriously considering every legal remedy available, including approaching the Labour Court for urgent relief to interdict the retrenchment process until the employer complies fully with both the letter and spirit of Section 189A. The union will also pursue every appropriate legal, regulatory and constitutional remedy available to protect workers from unlawful dismissals and procedural injustice.
The
union is equally concerned by the broader strategic direction of Sun International under foreign executive leadership. At a time when South Africa faces persistently high unemployment, particularly among young people, it is deeply troubling that one of the
country's flagship tourism and gaming companies is led by a foreign Chief Executive Officer while simultaneously reducing employment opportunities for South African workers.
Foreign direct investment should contribute to industrial development, skills transfer, employment creation and sustainable economic growth. It should never become a mechanism through which local employment is sacrificed in pursuit of short-term financial returns
or shareholder value.
Investment in South Africa's tourism and hospitality sector must strengthen the domestic economy and expand decent work, not deepen unemployment and inequality. SACCAWU wishes to make it clear that we are not opposed to investment or international participation in the South African economy.
We
support responsible investment that advances national development objectives. However, where foreign investment coincides with large-scale job losses, weakened labour standards and diminished socio-economic commitments, organised labour has both the right
and the obligation to challenge such practices in defence of South Africa's workers and economy.
Gaming licences are not ordinary commercial assets. They are public privileges granted by Provincial Gambling and Gaming Boards subject to stringent licensing conditions, employment commitments, transformation objectives and socio-economic obligations.
These licences were awarded on the basis that operators would create sustainable employment, contribute to local economic development, invest in skills development and promote responsible corporate citizenship. SACCAWU believes the proposed restructuring fundamentally contradicts those commitments.
The union therefore calls upon all Provincial Gambling and Gaming Boards to urgently investigate whether Sun International continues to comply with the employment, transformation and public-interest undertakings upon which its gaming licences were granted or renewed.
Among the issues requiring urgent regulatory scrutiny are:
· Whether the proposed retrenchments are compatible with the employment commitments made to Provincial Gambling and Gaming Boards. · Whether staffing reductions undermine the public-interest objectives underpinning gaming licences.
· Whether licence conditions relating to employment, transformation, skills development and local economic development continue to be satisfied.
· Whether genuine alternatives to retrenchment have been properly explored.
· Whether meaningful consultation has taken place before operational decisions were implemented.
· Whether organised labour has received all relevant information necessary to engage meaningfully as contemplated by Section 189A.
SACCAWU further questions how a company that continues to benefit from valuable gaming licences and regulated revenue streams can justify reducing employment while expecting workers to bear the burden of corporate restructuring. Workers are not disposable costs on a balance sheet. They are the people whose dedication, professionalism and sacrifice have built Sun International into one of South Africa's leading tourism and gaming companies.
SACCAWU will therefore vigorously defend every job and every statutory protection available to workers.
We shall pursue proceedings before the Labour Court where necessary, engage Provincial Gambling and Gaming Boards on compliance with licensing obligations, and explore every legal avenue available, including urgent interdict proceedings where circumstances justify such intervention.
South
Africa cannot permit corporations to secure valuable public licences on promises of employment creation, transformation and community development, only to abandon those commitments once commercial operations are established. Such conduct undermines public
confidence in the country's regulatory framework and weakens the developmental objectives that underpin the gaming and tourism sectors.
SACCAWU calls upon government, Provincial Gambling and Gaming Boards, organised labour, civil society and all South Africans to reject any restructuring process that places profits ahead of people and disregards the public commitments upon which gaming licences
were granted.
The union remains resolute in defending decent work, promoting social justice and ensuring that economic development in South Africa serves the interests of its people rather than the narrow interests of capital.
Issued obo The Deputy General Secretary
Jerry Thabo Mmoneri
Mobile: 0823369298
SACCAWU National Office Bearers
Defending Decent Work. Protecting Workers. Advancing Social Justice.
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NEHAWU is seriously concerned about media allegations of wasteful expenditure involving the NSFAS Administrator
Lwazi Nkolonzi, NEHAWU National Spokesperson, July 07, 2026
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] notes with serious concern allegations of wasteful expenditure by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme [NSFAS] Administrator currently making headlines in the media.
It is alleged that the Administrator has been spending public funds without the approval of the Minister of Finance as stipulated in statutes and this includes amongst acquiring services of four technical advisors for R10-million per year and accommodation and travel expenses, totalling R200 000 in just over a month since his appointment.
If the allegations are true, as NEHAWU, we find it totally unacceptable that NSFAS Administrator would unabatedly waste much needed public resources that should be directed towards working-class students.
As NEHAWU, we had cautioned the Minister of Higher Education and Training about previous Administrators who has plunged NSFAS into a deplorable state of governance, administration and failed to stabilise and put in place proper systems, instead we witnessed decay and rot at the scheme which was characterised by maladministration, and wasteful expenditure.
The scheme for a long time has been confronted with a myriad of challenges stemming from rampant scourge of maladministration, poor governance, and wasteful expenditure.
These media allegations are seriously concerning and as such require urgent attention, hence we call on the Minister of Higher Education and Training to institute an investigation into the allegations to get to the bottom of the allegations in order for there to be stability at NSFAS, as the scheme remains an important instrument for the realisation of providing access to post-schooling, and as such its stability is of critical importance.
END
Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat.
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SADTU Launches National Assessment for Learning Pilot to Strengthen Quality Public Education.
8 July 2026
SADTU has launched the Teacher Union Collaboration (TUC) Assessment for Learning (AfL) pilot workshop in Caledon, marking the start of a national initiative aimed at strengthening teacher professional development and improving learner outcomes across South Africa.
Addressing educators, union leaders and education stakeholders, SADTU Vice President for Education, Faseega Solomon, said the pilot is designed to enhance teachers’ knowledge and understanding of formative assessment, train master teachers on the effective use of Assessment for Learning resources, prepare for the national roll-out of the programme, and establish Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) that will promote continuous professional growth.
“Quality public education remains a priority for SADTU,” Solomon said. “We are committed to building a quality, equal, inclusive and well funded public education system for all. This initiative reflects our unwavering commitment to equipping teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to improve classroom practice and learner achievement.”
Vice president Solomon emphasised that SADTU’s role extends beyond collective bargaining, noting that the union remains committed to advancing both the welfare and professional development of educators.
“As a trade union, we stress the importance of organising education workers to fight for improved conditions of service and better working conditions while empowering them to deliver quality public education for all,” he said. “Our aim is to bring together trade unionism and professionalism because the two are inseparable in achieving excellence in education.”
The AfL pilot forms part of an agreement between teacher unions and education stakeholders to train educators in Assessment for Learning (AfL), Mother Tongue-Based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) and Literacy. Under the agreement, SADTU will train approximately 15,500 educators, representing 70% of the 22,000 teachers to be trained by teacher unions nationally.
The Caledon workshop serves as the launch of the pilot programme and is expected to inform the national implementation of the initiative in other provinces. Through this programme, SADTU aims to strengthen assessment practices, foster collaboration among educators through Professional Learning Communities, and ultimately improve the quality of teaching and learning in South African public schools.
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SAMATU Western Cape update to members
July 07, 2026
Dear
Member,
We
believe that you are aware that the union has revitalised its structures in the Western Cape leading to the provincial congress that was held last year, and the national elective congress held in May this year. This means that the union is now active in the
province and has leaders who are ready to address the issues experienced by members.
The
Western Cape province is not immune to the austerity measures that we see in other provinces, where medical practitioners are subjected to long working hours, salary cuts which are implemented unilaterally by the provincial departments of health, and the rising
unemployment of doctors. These are just some of the indicators that now more than ever, medical practitioners must stand in solidarity with each other, and the only platform that can offer us this opportunity is SAMATU.
The
provincial leadership will be conducting member engagement activities at various hospitals in the province; we urge members to encourage colleagues who are not yet members of the union to join during these campaigns. The more members the union has, the greater
the influence it will have on healthcare policy reforms and the betterment of the working conditions of medical practitioners.
In
preparation of the upcoming member engagements, we encourage members to complete the survey below. The responses will assist the leadership to structure the engagements at each respective hospital to ascertain that the issues raised receive sufficient attention.
For
all correspondence with the provincial leadership, kindly use the details below:
Email: w...@samatu.org.za
Mobile
number: 0691997640
We
plead with members to wear the SAMATU branded regalia that they have on Thursdays, to amplify the #SAMATUThursdays campaign.
Amandla!!
Click here to complete the survey
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SACP
statement on the management-enabled collapse of the Msunduzi Municipality and support of SAMWU
We, the South African Communist Party, in KwaZulu-Natal, expresses deep concern and outrage over the state of governance in Msunduzi Municipality, engineered by management and certain political leaders who are sleeping in their job.
We wish to categorically condemn this intransigent management style, that is diabolically stubborn, refusing to address basic workers’ rights, concerns and demands, all of which are provided for and agreed to in collective bargaining agreements and labour laws.
We are outraged by Msunduzi Municipal management stubbornness, who refuses to compromise, yield or address simple workers’ demands. Their attitude is collapsing the City of Harry Gwala, Moses Mabhida, Anton Mfenendala Xaba and other revolutionaries
This municipality is run by incompetent “absentee tenderpreneurs masquerading as managers” who prioritizes their financial interests, rather than service delivery. There is open power struggles in senior management and there are playing political gimmicks over
productivity required for service delivery. They have no interest of the workers and shop floor issues. They are extremely rigid, not interested to discuss the workers demand, and self-serving. They are actively suppressing the worker’s voice.
Instead of addressing legitimate worker’s issues, and meaningful municipal service delivery issues, they engage in disruptive infighting, using social media and openly protecting corrupt behaviors that erode workplace trust, morale, and performance.
The SACP is fully aware of the systemic management collapse, and we have identified those leaders who refuses to compromise or consider alternative viewpoints, rigidly adhering to their corrupt agendas. We are aware of various meetings that the municipal manager
had held with the leadership of the workers, but continue to treat the workers with disdain, and treat negotiations as zero-sum game where collaboration that has been presented as an alternative, is viewed as a weakness.
Rather than taking the workers’ demands seriously and engage in negotiations, especially on workers legislated rights, to achieve work-place peace, they excel at "disappearance and absence” appearing not interested in addressing their failures.
The "Yes-Men" Culture of Msunduzi Management is entrenched. Legitimate workers demands are viewed as a political challenge. Even those given political authority to prevail over this open fighting in management, have failed to intervene. They blame external
factors, or rivals for their own failures. The political leaders of Msunduzi are not interested in resolving workers issues because they are busy with turf battles & backstabbing each other, at the expense of service delivery. They are busy protecting their
political "fiefdoms", utilizing certain managers, spreading rumors against each other and using certain managers to protect factionalism.
Standby allowances
The SACP fully supports the workers call for the reintroduction of standby allowance. It is a legitimate expectation that management should know collective agreements established through the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) that provides
for this. It is not clear why the municipality has failed to develop and implement clear municipal-specific council policies, during the budgeting period. These binding agreements stipulate the baseline parameters, hourly/monthly tariff scales, and conditions
for standby duties and other conditions of service.
Even the BCEA Basic Conditions of Employment Act does set the legal threshold for general working hours, overtime compensation, and maximum overtime limits that municipalities must respect.
Why
is this municipality fails to resolve the workers views on this matter?
Absorbing temporary staff into permanent roles
The SACP is aware of the plan that certain politicians or councilors, as well as ward assistants would be absorbed to vacant positions, and make them permanent. This is being done through a method of destabilizing the Corporate Services Unit, so that the controlling
politicians can achieve their political ends, without following municipal policies on this regard. The SACP reject the manipulation of municipal policies to achieve bad intentions.
We believe that current staff who have been in these positions be placed first, strictly following the municipal policies. We believe that temporary staff must be placed into permanent roles, so that this can yield into tangible benefits for both the employer
and employee.
Legitimate placement of long-term talent, will drastically reduce turnover and recruitment costs, and boosts overall productivity by fostering higher morale and deeper institutional knowledge, all of which does not exist in Msunduzi.
Municipal worker progression
The SACP supports the call for workers progression, because this is the right, enshrined in the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000. This is heavily supported and regulated by the Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations, which establish
standardized human resource and career progression criteria across all municipalities.
The framework for municipal worker progression and promotion includes the following key mechanisms:
• Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000: Mandates that municipalities implement transparent human resource development strategies, maintain a Performance Management System (PMS), and uphold a standardized Code of Conduct for staff.
• Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations: Enacted to professionalize local government, these regulations outline specific criteria for recruitment, probation, competency frameworks, and promotion.
• Municipal Policies: In line with the legislation, individual municipalities, Msundusi Municipality failed to engage workers leaders on localized Promotion, Transfer, and Succession Policies. These are typically negotiated through the South African Local Government
Bargaining Council (SALGBC).
Scarce skills allowances
The SACP support the workers demand for scarce skills allowances since this is primarily enabled by the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, and is operationalized through the Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations, and negotiated via
South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) collective agreements.
Msunduzi is compelled to adopt Human Resource framework that address critical vacancies and retain specialized professionals. The SACP believes that there is legislative and policy framework that dictate this, such as Local Government: Municipal Systems Act
32 of 2000, that provides which enables Msunduzi to develop structural capacity and professional human resources systems to perform their duties.
Even Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations, which were gazetted by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), provides for the standardization of employment practices, job evaluations, and skills development across all
municipalities.
In conclusion
The SACP believes that deeply divided and widespread corruption have severely crippled basic service delivery, leading to failing infrastructure, dry taps, and broken roads. This dysfunction stems from weak political oversight, factionalism, and organized networks
of fraud that siphon funds away from public infrastructure.
In addition, we believe that deep management divisions by rival political factions of the ruling party, as well as fractured internal management factional fights for control of the of tenders makes this intransigent management stubborn in dealing with workers
demands.
The SACP calls for all worker’s formations, unions and civil society groups to unite and face this ongoing situation. Workers must unite against internal divisions and the protection of corrupt networks often enforced through intimidation of whistleblowers
and harassment of workers.
Workers must unite against procurement fraud and collusion between management and private service providers and politicians.
The end
For more information, contact:
Cde Mazwi Ngubane
081 559 1069
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
SADTU supports SAMWU’s National Day of Action
Dr Mugwena Maluleke, SADTU General Secretary, 08 July 2026
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) stands in solidarity with its fellow affiliate in the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) as it embarks on its National Day of Action on Thursday, 09 July 2026.
On this day, SAMWU members will march to the office of National Treasury in Pretoria to hand over memorandum directed to the Treasury, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the Department of Water and Sanitation. The action seeks to defend workers’ rights, collective bargaining, and quality public services.
Across the country, solidarity pickets will be held at provincial Treasury offices and municipal offices in support of the national march.
Municipal workers remain at the forefront of local government service delivery. They are entrusted with ensuring that communities receive essential services despite increasingly difficult working conditions. However, many municipalities continue to fail workers by not honouring signed collective agreements, delaying salary payments and third-party deductions, undermining organisational rights.
The deteriorating state of local government infrastructure, coupled with corruption, outsourcing, excessive use of consultants and privatisation have contributed significantly to the collapse of service delivery and the worsening conditions of municipal workers. The result is that workers are often denied their salaries, benefits, and the necessary tools to perform their duties effectively, while communities continue to suffer from poor service delivery and unreliable access to water and other essential services.
SADTU fully supports SAMWU’s demands for, among others:
• • An end to outsourcing and tenderisation.
• • An end to the wasteful expenditure of billions of rand on consultants.
• • Respect for collective agreement and the collective bargaining process.
• • Payment of workers’ salaries and benefits on time.
• • Implement agreed wage increases and stop delays in wage curve negotiations.
As a trade union committed to defending workers’ rights, SADTU joins SAMWU in calling on the National Treasury, municipalities, and water boards to fulfil their obligations to workers and communities alike.
The struggles of municipal workers are the struggles of all workers. An injury to one is an injury to all.
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POPCRU supports SAMWU’s National Day of Action
Richard Mamabolo, POPCRU National Spokesperson, 8 July 2026
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) extends its full solidarity and support to the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) as it embarks on its National Day of Action on 09 July 2026 in Tshwane.
POPCRU views this action as an important expression of working-class resistance against the continued deterioration of municipalities, the undermining of workers’ rights, poor governance, corruption, outsourcing, austerity, and the systematic weakening of public services.
Municipal workers are at the coalface of service delivery. They are responsible for water, sanitation, refuse removal, electricity support services, roads, parks, cemeteries, community facilities and many other basic services that sustain the daily lives of working-class communities. When municipalities collapse, it is municipal workers who are blamed first, even when the real causes are political instability, poor planning, corruption, underfunding, outsourcing and the looting of public resources.
POPCRU therefore supports SAMWU’s call for urgent intervention in the state of local government. The crisis in municipalities is not only a municipal workers’ issue; it is a national working-class issue. Communities cannot receive quality services when workers are underpaid, under-resourced, victimised, casualised or forced to work under unsafe and unstable conditions.
As workers within the Criminal Justice Cluster, POPCRU members understand the consequences of a failing state at local level. Poor street lighting, broken roads, water shortages, unmanaged waste, unsafe public spaces and collapsing community infrastructure all contribute to social instability, crime, poor health and deepening community frustration. These conditions also place additional pressure on police officers, correctional officials, traffic officers and other public servants who are expected to respond to problems created by systemic governance failures.
POPCRU further believes that the defence of municipal workers is inseparable from the defence of public services. The working class cannot allow municipalities to be reduced into playgrounds for tender networks, private profiteers and factional interests. Local government must be rebuilt as a sphere of democratic accountability, public service delivery, decent work, ethical leadership and community participation.
We therefore call on government to listen to SAMWU’s demands with seriousness and urgency. Workers cannot be expected to carry the burden of municipal collapse while those responsible for mismanagement and corruption remain unaccountable.
POPCRU calls for:
• The protection of municipal workers’ rights and conditions of service.
• An end to outsourcing, casualisation and the privatisation of basic municipal services.
• Urgent intervention in dysfunctional municipalities.
• Proper funding of local government to enable effective service delivery.
• Accountability for corruption, maladministration and political interference.
• Safe working conditions for municipal workers.
• The filling of critical vacancies across municipalities.
• The strengthening of collective bargaining and respect for organised labour.
POPCRU stands with SAMWU because the struggles of municipal workers are connected to the struggles of all public servants and working-class communities.
An injury to municipal workers is an injury to the entire working class.
We call on all progressive forces, communities and workers to support SAMWU’s National Day of Action and to defend the principle that public services must serve the people, not private profit.
Issued by POPCRU
International-Solidarity
UNI APRO Graphical & Packaging Committee Passes Resolution on Nepal, Commits to Building Worker Power
08 July 2026
UNI Apro Graphical & Packaging unions meeting was held Tokyo at the National Printing Bureau in a hybrid format on 10 June 2026. The Meeting focused on defending democracy, strengthening organizing, building sustainable unions, and preparing workers and unions
for technological change.
Delegates heard a detailed report from Nepal on escalating attacks on trade union rights, including efforts to weaken unions’ legal status and shut them out of key decision-making bodies. In response, the committee adopted a solidarity resolution urging UNI
Apro to step up international support for the Nepali trade union movement, including backing plans for an international delegation to engage the government and reinforce unions’ demands for the protection of fundamental labour rights.
A major focus of the meeting was the ongoing organizing work in multinational packaging companies, with updates on the Tetra Pak campaign in India and Pakistan and the Amcor campaign across Malaysia.
The meeting also examined the question of financial sustainability, with discussion led on union fee setting, fee increases, best practice in fee collection, and member retention. Delegates discussed a target of around 1-2% percent of workers’ salaries for
union fees as part of a broader effort to ensure unions have the resources needed to organize effectively and for workers though their unions to have the resources to improve their lives.
UNI Apro Graphical and Packaging President, from UNI affiliate Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), Tony Piccolo said unions need a long-term commitment to organizing in the graphical and packaging sector, particularly in major multinational workplaces
such as Tetra Pak, DIC and Amcor. He added that unions “must not only organize but also collect fees at a level that makes their organizations effective, including having the resource strength to confront the far right and defend workers across our industries.”
The meeting went on to address the rapid spread of artificial intelligence and digital transformation across the graphical and packaging sectors. Delegates discussed AI’s impact on work, the use of digital tools for union efficiency and organizing, the need
for more training and capacity building, and the importance of defending workers’ rights as new technologies are introduced.
UNI Apro Regional Secretary, Rajendra Acharya said the meeting underlined that international solidarity is essential in a period of mounting pressure on workers’ rights across the region. “When unions in one country come under attack, it is a warning to all
of us – and a reminder that our strongest answer is to act together across borders,” he said.
All Printing Bureau Labour Union in Japan (PLU) President, Tadashi Abe remarked that the discussions showed the importance of deeper regional cooperation as the sector continues to change. “This meeting has shown the need for even closer coordination between
unions across the region to stay ahead of rapid changes in the printing, packaging and related sectors, and to make sure workers’ jobs, rights and livelihoods are protected during this period of rapid change,” he said.
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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