Taking COSATU Today Forward, 20 January 2026 #Back2SchoolCampaign #Right2LearnCampaign
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #COSATU provinces are leading the #Back2School and #Right2Learn Campaigns across all locals #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 January 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
Organize at every workplace and demand respect for labour rights Now!
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- COSATU Mpumalanga pledges solidarity with flood victims in Nkomazi
- South Africa
- SATAWU saddened by the death of 13 learners in the Vaal
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- World Economic Forum 2026: A billionaire elite is pushing democracy to the brink
- Solidarity with the people of Iran
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
COSATU Mpumalanga pledges solidarity with flood victims in Nkomazi
Thabo Mokoena, COSATU Mpumalanga Provincial Secretary, 19 January 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Mpumalanga extends its deepest solidarity and compassion to the communities of Nkomazi affected by the recent floods that have caused widespread destruction, displacement, and suffering.
We are deeply concerned about the loss of homes, damage to infrastructure, disruption of livelihoods, and the trauma experienced by working-class families, the elderly, children, and vulnerable members of our society. These floods have once again exposed the harsh realities faced by our communities in times of natural disasters.
COSATU Mpumalanga calls on all spheres of government to act with urgency and coordination to ensure that affected communities receive adequate, dignified, and quality support. This includes the provision of safe shelter, food parcels, clean water, healthcare services, sanitation, and the speedy restoration of damaged infrastructure such as roads, schools, clinics, and electricity.
We further call on business, organised labour, faith-based organisations, NGOs, and broader civil society to unite in a spirit of social solidarity by mobilising resources and relief efforts to support the victims of this disaster. The magnitude of the devastation requires a collective response that puts people before profit.
Importantly, COSATU Mpumalanga urges government departments and employers to exercise compassion and flexibility during this difficult period. Workers who are unable to report for duty due to flooding, displacement, damaged transport routes, or unsafe conditions must not be penalised, disciplined, or have their wages unfairly deducted. Employers are called upon to apply progressive labour practices, including special leave arrangements and remote work where possible, in line with the principles of decent work and human dignity.
As COSATU Mpumalanga, we reaffirm our commitment to stand with the working class and affected communities of Nkomazi. We will continue to engage relevant authorities and stakeholders to ensure that relief efforts are effective, transparent, and reach those most in need.
Our thoughts are with all families impacted by this disaster. We encourage communities to remain united and vigilant, and we stand ready to play our role in rebuilding lives and restoring hope.
Issued by: COSATU Mpumalanga
SATAWU saddened by the death of 13 learners in the Vaal
Amanda Tshemese, SATAWU National Spokesperson, 19 January 2026
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) wish to send its heartfelt condolences to the families and affected schools of the children that sadly passed away today while on their way to different schools in the Vaal.
No parent should bury their child. This is very sad and painful to everyone considering that schools have only been open for a few days now. We also wish the victims that are in hospitals speedy recovery. They are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
As a transport union that is also organising truck drivers, we are very disturbed. It has been alleged that the minibus driver that was transporting learners was attempting to overtake a number of vehicles and sadly collided with a truck.
It is everyone's responsibility, that includes parents and teachers to make sure that all the drivers that are transporting our kids have all required and valid documents. It is also very important to do background checkups to verify that information and their past to ensure that our kids are not exposed to accidents like this one.
The union is calling on the Minister of Transport and the Department of Education to intervene. We understand that the matter is still under investigation, however we cannot avoid that fact that most of these minibuses that are in the scholar transport industry are not roadworthy.
We are calling on the Department oof Education to make sure that drivers are fit enough to transport learners. This is not the first incident, now it confirms that there is a loophole in the sector.
Something is not taken through properly.
The Minister of Transport must ensure that drivers are supported and taken through certain programs for them to know all the road signs and rules of the road.
The other problem that remains a concern is overload in these scholar transport. That should come to an end, teachers have a responsibility to monitor all the busses that are transporting our learners. Those who are found doing that should be banned from transporting children and face the law.
We are calling for comprehensive and complete investigation into this tragedy, with no fear or favour. We understand that the minibus driver is in hospital, he needs to answer, families are grieving and they deserve justice.
We are also pleading with government to provide psychosocial support to the families that are affected.
We once again send our deepest condolences to all families that have lost their children and to all the affected schools, you are not alone, we are with you.
Issued by SATAWU
International-Solidarity
World Economic Forum 2026: A billionaire elite is pushing democracy to the brink
20 January 2026
The ITUC welcomes Oxfam’s call for radical, immediate change to stop and reverse the rapid erosion of democratic institutions driven by an accelerating accumulation of wealth and power by a small group of billionaires.
In a new report, Resisting the Rule of the Rich, Oxfam claims that an ultra-rich elite is using an extreme concentration of wealth to capture democratic systems by shaping laws, media, technology, taxation and public policy in their favour.
“This report confirms what the ITUC warned about last year in our call to ’Stop The Billionaire Coup’ – we are witnessing a coordinated billionaire coup against democracy. Extreme wealth is deliberately converted into political power to erode democratic institutions and workers’ rights.”ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle
"The ITUC document the Trump–Musk model exposes how extreme wealth, control over digital platforms and authoritarian politics merge to directly undermine democratic checks and balances.
“As political and business leaders gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum, this report makes clear the economic and political cost to working people of this ever-greater concentration of wealth and power. Billionaire wealth is growing three times faster than the world economy, while millions of people in poverty suffer. Growth is being captured, not shared. Billionaires are no longer merely influencing governments; they are now seeking to govern directly, bypass institutions, weaken labour protections and normalise the erosion of democratic norms, such as trade union rights.
“But it is not inevitable; it is a choice and we can reverse it. We must fight for democracy so that it delivers for working people and is led by them,” added Luc Triangle.
The report paints a stark picture:
The number of billionaires has passed 3,000, while 3.83 billion people (48 per cent of the world’s population) in 2022 were living in poverty. From 2015 to 2024, the number of people facing food insecurity increased by 42.6 per cent to 683 million, including 92 million in Europe and the USA.
The top 12 billionaires now hold more wealth than the poorest 50 per cent of the world’s population.
Women perform 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work per day, contributing at least US$ 10.8 trillion to the global economy.
One hundred American billionaire families funded one-sixth of all election spending.
More unequal countries are up to seven times more likely to suffer democratic erosion, as governments increasingly respond to inequality with repression instead of redistribution.
Big Tech is enabling this coup by the ultra-rich, as billionaires control over half of global media, including nine of the 10 largest social-media firms and eight of the 10 largest AI companies.
Luc Triangle concluded: “As the report identifies, building workers’ power is the best means to curb this accumulation of political power by the super-rich. Trade unions are the foundation of strong, free, democratic societies. Where collective bargaining and freedom of association are respected, workers have power, inequality shrinks, democratic institutions are stronger and economies are more stable. As the world’s largest social democratic movement, trade unions will fight to defend and extend these basic rights.
“Tax justice is now more than just a fiscal tool – it is a democratic safeguard. Extreme wealth must be taxed to limit its political power. Fair and progressive tax policies – including wealth taxes, inheritance taxes and minimum corporate taxes – are needed more than ever for social justice and to finance social progress.
“We cannot allow extreme wealth to erode democracy and dismantle trust. Trade unions offer a roadmap to build the New Social Contract: universal social protection, strong social dialogue, equality, fair taxation and fair wages. This is the only sustainable foundation for peace, resilience and prosperity.”
It is the world’s people and not the super-rich who must shape the future.
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Solidarity with the people of Iran
Democracy, 20 January 2026
As the people of Iran continue to rise against an oppressive regime and face violent repression, Iranian teachers and unionists are calling for international solidarity.
EI member organisation the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations (CCITTA) has announced that two of its members have been arrested.
Abdulah Rezaei, CCITTA Board Member and the General Secretary of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Harsin, Kermanshah Province, and Shokrolah Ahmadi, CCITTA Inspector and Member of the Board of Directors of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Fars province have been detained.
Education International calls for their immediate release!
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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