Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 6 August 2026 #CosatuCongress2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #Cosatu opens media accreditation application for the 15th National Congress… #CosatuCongress2026 #WorkerControl #NationaActionAgainstCostOfLiving Campaign continues… #ClassWar #Cosatu40 #SACTU70 #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
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
6 August 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
Organize at every workplace and demand respect for labour rights Now!
Defend Jobs Now!
Join COSATU NOW!
Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- More must be done to cushion workers and the economy from the further massive increase in diesel prices
- South Africa
- Media Accreditation Application for the COSATU 15th National Congress officially open
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Unity Korea workers call on global management to end prolonged work suspensions
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
NUM
to host Post-NEC Media Briefing on Eskom Restructuring and other key industry issues.
Livhuwani
Mammburu, NUM National Spokesperson, 06 August 2026
The
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) will host a media briefing following its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to address key national and sector issues, including the union’s official response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval of the Eskom
Restructuring Task Team (ERTT) Phase I Report.
The briefing will be addressed by the NUM National Office Bearers (NOBs).
The
details are as follows:
•Date:
Friday, 07 August 2026
•Time: 12:00 PM (Members of the media are requested to arrive early; the briefing will start promptly)
•Venue: Premier Hotel Roodevalley, Pretoria.
For
more information and media inquiries, please contact:
•Livhuwani Mammburu | NUM National Spokesperson
| 083 809 3257
•Luphert Chilwane | NUM Media Officer | 083 809 3255
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Head Office
7 Rissik Street, Cnr Frederick, Johannesburg
Tel: 011 377 2111 | Web: www.num.org.za
X (Twitter): @Num_Media | Facebook: NUM Official Page
South Africa #ClassSolidarity Top of Form
Media
Accreditation Application for the COSATU 15th National Congress officially open
Zanele
Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 06
August 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will convene its 15th National Congress from 14 to 17 September 2026 at Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa.
Taking place under the theme, “Building A Militant, Revolutionary Labour Movement and Strengthening Anti-Imperialist Working-Class Unity to Defend Jobs and Advance Socialism”, the four-day event will bring together delegates from affiliates, Alliance
partners and international guests; and conclude with the presentation of the Congress declaration and the announcement of the elected COSATU National Office Bearers.
COSATU President Zingiswa Losi will deliver the opening address, with messages of support from Alliance partners, the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO). The
political, organisational, economic and international reports will be tabled at Congress.
Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the Congress.
The media accreditation application process is now open and will close on the 4 September 2026.
Below are the details that need to be submitted for the application to be processed.
Name:
Surname:
Media House:
Address:
Country:
Mobile:
Email:
Applications should be forwarded to the following emails: Mam...@cosatu.org.za and Non...@cosatu.org.za before Friday, 04 September 2026.
They can also be submitted via the link below:
Media Registration
Issued by COSATUBottom
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COSATU North West supports its affiliate, POPCRU in welcoming the appointment of Lieutenant-General Arthur Peter Adams as the SAPS Provincial Commissioner.
Kabelo Kgoro, COSATU North-West Provincial Secretary, 06 August 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the North-West province joins its affiliate the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) in the province in welcoming the appointment of Lieutenant-General Arthur Peter Adams as the North-West Provincial Commissioner of the Soth African Police Service. This appointment became effective on 01 August 2026.
As COSATU in the province we welcome the fact that the period of having an acting Provincial Commissioner has come to an end with this appointment. The newly appointed Provincial Commissioner is expected to ensure stability, accountability and transparency within the SAPS in the province.
As we welcome the appointment of Lieutenant-General Arthur Peter Adams as the Provincial Commissioner we equally call on him to ensure that the people Brakspruit and the family of Ben Williams find justice. Ben Williams was brutally murdered by a white farmer at Brackspruit. We literally had to force the police to bring this matter to court. The matter was later struck off the roll under very suspicious circumstances.
We would like this matter to be reopened, and a new investigator appointed to the case. To that effect, COSATU, together with representatives from the Brackspruit community will request an urgent meeting with the newly appointed Provincial Police Commissioner on this matter.
Over and above the Ben Williams matter we call on the Provincial Commissioner to stabilise the SAPS in the province by first, filling all vacant posts as they are all critical in maintaining law and order in the province. The North-West province needs a police service that is motivated and ready to ensure that the people of the North-West province are always safe. Second, create a work environment which will encourage all police officers of all ranks to be motivated to do their work and combat crime and criminals without fear or favour.
Lastly, create a platform to engage with organised labour from time to time not only when it is requested by organised labour. This is important for workplace labour peace and conducive environment for productive work.
We wish the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Arthur Peter Adams success in his new responsibilities. We are looking forward to interacting with you during some of our own programmes.
Internationalism-Solidarity
Unity Korea workers call on global management to end prolonged work suspensions
1 August 2026
The Korea Finance & Services Workers’ Union (KFWU) and its Unity Technologies Korea Branch (KFWU-UTK) held a press conference outside Bithumb Finance Tower in Seoul on 22 July, calling on management to withdraw work-suspension orders and return six employees
to active employment. The employees had previously been placed on standby after refusing the company’s requests to resign.
Unity Technologies Korea Ltd. is the Korean subsidiary of NYSE-listed Unity Software Inc., which develops the Unity game-development platform. Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg was in Seoul for Unite Seoul 2026, the company’s flagship conference in Korea for developers,
creators and businesses using its platform. A global vice-president responsible for human resources was also visiting Korea.
After Bromberg and the HR vice-president rejected its requests for a meeting, the UNI Global Union affiliate held the press conference to draw public attention to the dispute and press Unity’s global management to intervene directly.
Restructuring and prolonged work suspensions
The dispute comes amid several years of restructuring at Unity globally. Unity Technologies Korea’s workforce reportedly fell from approximately 250 in 2023 to around 120 in 2025. In response to growing employment insecurity, Unity’s Korea workers established
the union in September 2025.
When the branch was established, it said Unity’s matrix organizational structure left the Korean subsidiary with limited decision-making authority. It saw the union as an official channel for workers to engage global headquarters and seek greater transparency
in corporate decisions.
Two months later, in November and December 2025, the company asked another 18 employees to resign. Ten of them initially refused. By July 2026, 12 of the original 18 had left the company, while six who continued to refuse remained employed.
The KFWU-UTK alleges that the company used a succession of personnel measures to pressure the workers into resigning without formally dismissing them. Those who refused were first placed on standby, removed from their duties and denied access to the workplace
and company systems. In April, the company issued work-suspension orders under which the affected employees remained employed but received 70 per cent of their average wages.
The six remaining employees work in full-stack and backend development, product management, design and server support. In June, four of them filed applications for relief against the allegedly unfair work-suspension orders with the Regional Labor Relations
Commission. Proceedings are ongoing.
Union calls for global accountability
At the press conference, KFWU Senior Vice-President Kim Tae-gap said:
“Is it right for the company to artificially reorganize jobs and use standby and work-suspension orders to force workers out?”
Jeong Ki-cheol, head of KFWU’s General Office Industry Division, said:
“They recruited young workers with promises of a bright future, only to abolish their positions less than six months later and put their livelihoods at risk through standby orders and wage reductions.
“If the Korean subsidiary lacks the necessary authority, global headquarters must step forward and respond responsibly.”
One of the six affected union members also shared their experience:
“I joined Unity as an engineer on 30 June 2025 to support a product scheduled for launch in early 2026. Just five months later, I received a standby order. I had left a stable job and relocated, but before the ink on my lease agreement had even dried, I was
told to leave.
“When I refused to resign voluntarily, my income was reduced to 70 per cent of my average wage. I had to end my rental arrangement and move to Suwon. My career and marriage plans were thrown into uncertainty, but I chose to stay and fight to prevent management
from creating more victims.”
Choi Seung-sik, President of the KFWU-UTK Branch, stressed that the six workers remain full-time employees:
“It is absurd that a global company with 5,000 employees claims it cannot reassign six workers. This is not due to a lack of available positions, but a total lack of accountability from leadership.”
The union urged Unity’s global leadership to begin immediate dialogue rather than wait for the Regional Labor Relations Commission’s ruling. It presented three demands:
Immediately withdraw the work-suspension orders and restore all affected workers to their original positions.
Take direct responsibility at the global level rather than hiding behind the Korean subsidiary.
Halt unilateral workforce reductions and establish meaningful employment-security measures.
Beyond the immediate loss of income, the six workers have been excluded from active duties for around seven months. The union argues that prolonged separation from projects and workplace systems can seriously damage their professional development and future
career prospects in the fast-moving software industry.
UNI Asia & Pacific Regional Secretary Rajendra Acharya said: “Unity Technologies Korea cannot leave workers employed on paper while excluding them from their jobs for months. We call on global management to meet the union and provide a credible path back to
active employment for the six workers.”
______________________________
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