Taking COSATU Today Forward, 20 April 2026 #CosatuMayDay2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #CosatuMayDay2026 countdown commences… #COSATU National May Day will be celebrated at Polokwane, Limpopo on May 1 #ClassWar #Cosatu40 #SACTU70 #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
Taking COSATU Today Forward
‘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
20 April 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU applauds NUM on Eskom salary settlement
- NEIL AGGETT LABOUR STUDIES UNIT (NALSU) Topic: "Informal Construction Labour and the Meanings of Skill: Roadside Hiring in Buffalo City, South Africa"
- Media accreditation for COSATU May Day celebrations officially open
- South Africa
- COSATU and FEDUSA: Health Minister confirms SA healthcare system too expensive and unsustainable
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- United Nations Commission on the Status of Women: Education is foundational to justice
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
COSATU applauds NUM on Eskom salary settlement
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 18 April 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) congratulates its Affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), on reaching a multi-year wage agreement with Eskom.
NUM signed a three-year 7% salary hike for workers at the state-owned utility. The agreement is set to come into effect on 1 July 2026. Trade union, Solidarity, also signed the agreement, but the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) declined to sign and declared a dispute instead.
However, as NUM and Solidarity jointly represent more than 75% of the workers in the Central Bargaining Forum, NUMSA’s refusal to sign is of no effect and it is therefore bound by the agreement, its members will receive the 7% salary increase along with other workers.
COSATU is impressed by the maturity displayed by NUM, given it signed the agreement not only to secure an above-inflation increase for its members but also to ensure the sustainability of Eskom considering the disruptive impact of annual salary negotiations on operations. NUM fully appreciates the critical role Eskom plays in the country’s economy and has taken the lead in ensuring that it continues to deliver on its mandate with little to no disruption.
The Federation once again commends the employees of Eskom for the stellar work they have done in turning the entity around and tackling loadshedding decisively.
COSATU supports NUM unequivocally as it continues to roll out mass action against Eskom’s unbundling.
Issued by COSATU
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NEIL
AGGETT LABOUR STUDIES UNIT (NALSU): Labour Studies Seminar Series, Rhodes University, South Africa
SEMINAR / WEBINAR: 4PM, Wednesday 22 April 2026, Steve Biko Room (Sociology Department), Rhodes University, & via Zoom (details below)
SPEAKER AND TOPIC: Anele Dloto, University of Fort Hare, "Informal Construction Labour and the Meanings of Skill: Roadside Hiring in Buffalo City, South Africa"
THE PAPER: Anele Dloto examines how skill becomes meaningful and consequential in Buffalo City's informal construction labour market. Focusing on roadside hiring encounters, his paper analyses these intensified moments of judgement: decisions must be
made quickly, with limited information, and without formal screening mechanisms. Drawing on ethnographic research, the study shows that skill is neither absent, nor formally stabilised in this labour market, but actively produced as a negotiated and relational
judgement. Workers actively assert skill through fleeting roadside encounters, reputations, repeated hiring, and demonstrations of reliability over time. Employers recognise competence, which they need to manage risk and complete work, but resist credentialed
forms of recognition that would strengthen workers' bargaining power.
Skill is recognised, contested, and negotiated in informal labour markets, and worker agency is crucial to how workers navigate exclusion, assert their skills, and resist the precarious conditions they face. By reframing skill as a situated social judgement
shaped by uncertainty, interests, and unequal power, the paper shows that informality does not flatten skill, but relocates its production into everyday interactions. This analysis challenges human capital approaches that treat skill as an individual attribute
awaiting credentialed recognition, and informality perspectives that argue that labour surpluses render workers interchangeable. By offering a clearer explanation of how skill and inequality are reproduced in informal labour markets, this paper helps explain
why policy efforts centred on training and credentialing often fail.
SPEAKER: Mr Anele Dloto is a PhD Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand and Sociology Lecturer at the University of Fort Hare. His research examines the social construction of skill within informal labour markets,
with a particular focus on roadside hiring sites in Buffalo City's informal construction economy.
ONLINE: Register in advance at https://tinyurl.com/3nyy7pbt
(you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining).
ALL WELCOME. LIGHT SNACKS PROVIDED.
HOSTS: Based in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, NALSU is engaged in policy, research and workers' education, has a democratic, non-sectarian, non-aligned and pluralist practice, and active relations with a range of advocacy, labour and research organisations.
We are named in honour of Dr Neil Hudson Aggett, union organiser and medical doctor who died in 1982 in an apartheid jail after enduring brutality and torture.
MORE: https://www.ru.ac.za/nalsu
Kind regards,
Valance
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Media accreditation for COSATU May Day celebrations officially open
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 08 April 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has officially opened media accreditation applications for Workers’ Day celebrations on 1 May 2026. The Federation will continue with its tradition of hosting celebrations across the country, with the national rally to be held at Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
The President of COSATU, Zingiswa Losi will deliver the keynote address, with messages of support from leaders of Alliance Partners: the African National Congress (ANC), South African Communist Party (SACP) and South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO).
COSATU National Office bearers will lead provincial commemorations, alongside leaders of affiliated trade unions and members of the Federation’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).
Applications to cover the national rally may be submitted to mam...@cosatu.org.za or non...@cosatu.org.za.
Alternatively, an application form can be completed via this link:
Media accreditation for COSATU May Day celebrations officially open – Fill out form
Applications to cover provincial rallies can be sent to the following contacts:
1. Western Cape- Mbekweni Sport Stadium (Paarl) at 10:00
Malvern de Bruyn 060 977 9027 or Cleopatra Kakaza 072 312 6822
2. Gauteng - Tsakane Stadium (Brakpan) at 10:00
Louisa Modikwe 082 297 2659 or Itumeleng Moloantoa 071 873 5238
3. Free State- Bultfontein Stadium (Bultfontein) at 10:00
Tiisetso Mahlatsi on 077 607 3012 or Mongezi Mbelwane on 072 308 7658
4. KwaZulu Natal Curries Fountain Stadium (Durban) at 10:00
Edwin Mkhize 082 339 7756 or Khaliphile Cotoza 082 339 5760
5. Mpumalanga- Kamagugu Stadium (Mbombela) at 10:00
Thabo Mokoena 082 799 5699 or James Mahlabane 064 753 9055
6. Northern Cape- Open Air Arena (Galeshewe) at 10:00
Thandi Makapela 079 481 9077
7. North West- Olympia Stadium (Rustenburg) at 10:00
Kabelo Kgoro 067 410 4696
8. Eastern Cape - Nangoa Jebe Hall – Gqeberha, Orient Theatre (kuGompo) – Buffalo City, Tobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre (Komani) and Lusikisiki College Great Hall at 10:00
Mkhawuleli Maleki 082 339 5482
Issued by COSATU
Zanele Sabela (COSATU Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639
Email: zan...@cosatu.org.za
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU and FEDUSA: Health Minister confirms SA healthcare system too expensive and unsustainable
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson& Betty Moleya, FEDUSA Communications Officer, 20 April 2026
South Africa’s healthcare financing system is unsustainable, too expensive, and failing workers. This is no longer a matter of contestation. At the recent Section 77 hearing at NEDLAC, the Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, confirmed that the current model is inappropriate and cannot be sustained, while affirming that escalating medical aid costs constitute a matter of clear social and economic importance.
For COSATU and FEDUSA, this confirmation reinforces a shared position across organised labour. Workers are facing relentless increases in medical aid contributions, including the recent 9.5% adjustment by GEMS, at a time when wages remain under pressure and the broader cost of living continues to rise.
What was once considered a basic layer of social protection is increasingly becoming unaffordable and a luxury for many working households.
The crisis, however, extends beyond any single medical scheme. The Minister has made it clear that the problem lies within the broader structure of healthcare financing in South Africa. Despite significant national expenditure on health, the system continues to produce unequal outcomes, with a disproportionate share of resources benefiting a minority while the majority face constrained access and rising costs.
Importantly, the main drivers of escalating healthcare costs are located within the private healthcare sector, particularly in the pricing practices of private hospitals and specialists. Medical schemes, including GEMS, are responding to these pressures by increasing premiums to remain viable, with the burden ultimately unfairly and unnecessarily falling on workers.
This is the core injustice confronting the working class. They are being asked to carry the cost of a system that is structurally flawed and increasingly detached from affordability and reality.
COSATU and FEDUSA therefore reiterate that this campaign is not limited to one scheme, GEMS. It reflects a broader struggle to address the rising cost of healthcare in South Africa and to confront the systemic failures that continue to undermine access, equity, and sustainability.
At the same time, GEMS, as a scheme established to serve public servants, must take seriously the impact of its decisions on members and must actively engage in efforts to contain costs, reverse the 9.5% increase and protect beneficiaries within the constraints of the current system.
COSATU and FEDUSA will continue to advance this joint campaign through all available platforms, including Section 77 processes currently underway at NEDLAC, ongoing engagements within the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC), coordinated mass action, strategic litigation, political interventions and sustained public advocacy.
These interventions reflect the growing consensus across organised labour and the broader public that escalating healthcare costs require urgent national intervention and cannot be left to market forces alone.
Government must now move beyond acknowledgement toward decisive action. Regulatory intervention to address the pricing of private healthcare providers must be accelerated, alongside broader reforms to ensure that healthcare in South Africa is affordable, accessible, and equitable.
Workers cannot be expected to carry this burden indefinitely.
Issued jointly by COSATU and FEDUSA
For interviews and inquiries contact:
Zanele Sabela (COSATU Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639
Email: zan...@cosatu.org.za
OR
Betty
Moleya
FEDUSA Communications Officer
Mobile: +27 63 736 5533
Email: communi...@fedusa.org.za
International-Solidarity
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women: Education is foundational to justice
Equity and inclusion Advancing gender equality in and through education, 16 April 2026
A delegation of 15 women education unionists from 8 countries represented Education International at the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, which took place in New York from 9 to 19 March. The EI delegation highlighted the role of education in ensuring access to justice for all women and girls, which the Commission recognised in its Agreed Conclusions.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the United Nations’ principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment. The 70th session of the CSW focused on “ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices, and addressing structural barriers”.
“I felt that the 70th session was both challenging and significant. The shift away from consensus was, to me, a serious concern, especially as the United States and several conservative states pushed for a vote. It was worrying to see previously agreed language being reopened, as this risks creating ongoing disputes—not only in gender equality, but in other international processes as well. At the same time, I was encouraged by the strong sense of solidarity, which proved essential in protecting key commitments for women and girls”, stated Ann Mari Milo Lorentzen, Chair of the Education International Status of Women’s Committee, Member of the EI Executive Board, and Vice-President of Union of Education Norway.
Strong commitments to education
Working closely with the global trade union movement, the Education International delegation advocated for the CSW to recognise the critical role of education in ensuring access to justice for all women and girls, as well as the rights of education workers—a deeply feminised profession in many parts of the world.
The Agreed Conclusions of the 70th Session of the CSW reflect many of the points put forward by education unions:
- Education is foundational to justice: The Agreed Conclusions urge all governments to strengthen access to justice for all women and girls by investing in inclusive, quality education and integrating legal literacy into learning programmes and public awareness efforts. The CSW Conclusions also call for the development of national strategies that combine legal reform with public education campaigns to actively engage men and boys as allies in advancing gender equality and supporting women’s and girls’ access to justice.
- Right to work and rights at work: The Agreed Conclusions stress the need to fulfil the obligations arising from relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), addressing violence and harassment in the workplace, and tackling the gender pay gap. The Conclusions also emphasise enforcing labour rights, including the right to organise and collective bargaining, the transition from informal to formal and decent work, and the right to redress and justice for victims of labour rights violations.
- Trade unions are recognised as key promoters of access to justice for women.
- Gender-responsive justice systems: The Agreed Conclusions call for adequate financing of policies on access to justice, gender balance at all levels of public governance and justice systems, capacity building for all justice system professionals, and strengthened institutional capacity to mainstream a gender perspective in laws and policies, including labour inspection.
- Capacity building: Commitments were made regarding legal literacy for women, free legal aid, and investments in education, lifelong learning, and vocational training for women and girls.
- Call for systemic change: The Agreed Conclusions recognise multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, as well as structural and systemic barriers, as major impediment to gender equality.
Global trade union advocacy for women in the world of work
Global trade unions called on the CSW to ensure that justice effectively addresses women's exploitation in the world of work and the discriminatory working conditions they face based on gender. Trade unions called for the Agreed Conclusions to include a bold commitment to the ratification and effective implementation of international labour standards linked to the ILO's fundamental principles and rights at work for all women.
Click here to read the Global Unions’ statement to the 70th session of the CSW.
In a significant victory for the global trade union movement, paragraph 8i of the Agreed Conclusions echoes union demands, urging governments to “enact, strengthen and enforce laws and regulatory frameworks that fully respect, protect and fulfil women’s right to work and rights at work, taking into account obligations under relevant International Labour Organization conventions”.
Union solidarity against regressive forces
During the CSW negotiations, there were efforts, led by the United States, to narrow the definition of gender to “men” and “women”. Progressive actors joined forces and succeeded in blocking this regressive proposal. However, “it was a reminder that accessible, inclusive, and equity-focused values are under attack. Now more than ever, we must remain vigilant in upholding standards that protect everyone”, noted Tesa Fiddler, First Nations educator and the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Indigenous Education for the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, in her article for Worlds of Education.
Solidarity across borders was also highlighted at the reception hosted by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) for the delegations of Education International and Public Services International. AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFT Executive Vice President and EI Executive Board Member Evelyn DeJesus stressed the critical importance of solidarity to the defence of democracy, peace, public education, healthcare, and workers’ rights around the world.
Reflecting on her experience at the 70th session of the CSW, Fiddler stressed that “global commitments only matter if they are carried forward into our daily work and interactions with those around us. The conversations that happen at the United Nations have to continue in our classrooms, our schools, our unions, and our communities.”
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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