Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 2 February 2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #HambaKahleLeonLevy, says COSATU #Back2SchoolCampaign continues… #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
2 February 2026
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- ILO launches diploma to strengthen evidence-based public policy for decent work and social justice
- Department of Employment and Labour invites written submission on the intention to deem all performers in the performance
- Department of Employment and Labour call for proposals on training or workshops session on labour laws to vulnerable worker
- South Africa
- COSATU applauds MISA's securing a court interdict to halt salary cuts and retrenchments at Motus
- President Ramaphosa mourns passing of struggle veteran Leon Levy
- Statement on the expulsion of Israeli Charge de Affairs by South Africa and subsequent reprisals by Israel regime
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- SACP condemns US total fuel blockade of Cuba
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
ILO launches diploma to strengthen evidence-based public policy for decent work and social justice
29 January 2026
Programme responds to rising demand for rigorous, data-driven policymaking in a rapidly changing world of work marked by climate change, inequalities, and technological disruption.
Geneva (ILO News) - The International Labour Organization (ILO), in partnership with the International Training Centre, has launched its Diploma in Evidence-Based Public Policy for Decent Work and Social Justice, responding to a growing global demand for rigorous, data-driven policymaking in an increasingly complex world of work.
The programme was unveiled during a virtual open house on 23 January 2026, which brought together participants from more than 40 countries. Aimed at policymakers, governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations, development partners and academia, the initiative supports fair and inclusive decision‑making in a world of work shaped by climate change, rising inequalities, conflicts, economic volatility and technological disruption.
“Ideas are not enough. To make a difference, people need the capacity to turn evidence into action,” said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of ILO Research Department. “This Diploma is a practical response to that gap. It helps decision-makers, policy analysts, and advocates move from research to results, with integrity, clarity, and courage.”
The event featured a keynote address by leading economist Professor Jayati Ghosh, University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA) who explored the “uses, misuses, and the politics of numbers,” and called for “greater accountability in how data is used to shape the policies that govern people’s lives.”
Running from January to December 2026, the Diploma consists of five modular courses, delivered online and in hybrid format between January and December 2026 covering:
Understanding the Policy–Evidence Nexus
Research Methods for Labour and Social Policies
Storytelling with Evidence: Communicating for Impact
Labour Market Data and Statistics for Policy
International Training: From Research to Policy (Hybrid, Turin & Geneva)
Participants will develop real-world policy briefs, engage in peer learning, and receive mentoring from global experts. The programme builds on ILO’s long-standing work on advancing decent work, labour standards, and social justice, and on more than a decade of global experience training over 1,000 policymakers across 60+ countries.
As one speaker noted during the launch: “Policy is the art of the possible, guided by the discipline of evidence.”
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Department of Employment and Labour invites written submission on the intention to deem all performers in the performance as employees
28 January 2026
In a move designed to protect vulnerable employees the Department of Employment and Labour is inviting interested stakeholders and parties on the intention to Deem Performers in the Performance of Advertising, Artistic, and Cultural Activities in South Africa as Employees.
Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth has signed the notice as per the government gazette on her intention.
In terms of the notice employees in these sectors will enjoy privileges enjoyed by other employees in other sectors in terms of coverage to various labour market legislations such as: The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA); the National Minimum Wage (NMW); and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA).
These processes form part of government's broader efforts to address reported challenges in the sector, including income insecurity, unsafe working conditions, and limited access to social protection, while ensuring that any regulatory intervention is evidence-based, consultative, and responsive to the realities of the industry.
This intention arises from widespread evidence and stakeholder representations indicating that performers in these sectors often operate under conditions characteristic of employment relationships, including fixed working hours, supervision, and payment for services rendered.
However, they are frequently excluded from basic labour protections due to their classification as “independent contractors".
This measure seeks to extend the fundamental protections of employment law to these vulnerable workers and provide a basis for regulatory and enforcement mechanisms that promote decent work in the creative economy.
The notice was published on 23 January 2026. Interested persons are invited to submit written representations regarding this proposal within 30 (working days) of publication of this notice to:
The Director-General: Department of Employment and Labour Attention: Acting Deputy Director General: Labour Policy and Industrial Relations Private Bag X117, Pretoria, 0001 or Email: SDinvest...@LABOUR.gov.za
For media enquiries, please contact:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
082 697 0694/ teboho....@labour.gov.za
-ENDS-
Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
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Department of Employment and Labour call for proposals on training or workshops session on labour laws to vulnerable worker
29 January 2026
The Department of Employment and Labour is inviting labour service organisations from all provinces to submit proposals on training or workshops session on labour laws to vulnerable workers.
The call for proposals from organisations such as non-profit organisations (NPOs) and public benefit organisations (PBOs) targets organisations that specialise in labour matters to provide training or workshop sessions to domestic workers, farm workers, retrenched workers etc.
The training should focus on the following:
- Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA)
- Labour Relations Act (LRA)
- Employment Equity Act (EEA)
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Unemployment
Insurance Act (UIA)
Enquiries can be sent to: Sipho....@labour.gov.za / Saraphina....@labour.gov.za and applications can be emailed to: civilsociet...@labour.gov.za
Or
- Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA)
-
Occupational
Health and Safety Act (OHSA)
Enquiries can be sent to: Busisiw...@labour.gov.za / Tandisw...@labour.gov.za and applications can be emailed to: civilsociety.c...@labour.gov.za
A single application per organisation for each of the legislation is required.
Applicants must meet the following requirements: organisation must be registered with the Department of Social Development(DSD) in terms of NPO Act of 1997 and (Attach NPO certificate); have an active bank account; must have an existing office, send an audited financial statement for a previous project; must have knowledge and understanding of labour related matters and labour laws; must have knowledge and understanding of COIDA and OHSA; latest NPO compliance letter issued by DSD; and attach a valid letter of good standing for COIDA/OHSA proposals.
The closing date for submission of proposals is 20 February 2026 at 16:00.
For
media enquiries, please contact:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
082 697 0694/ teboho....@labour.gov.za
-ENDS-
Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
COSATU applauds MISA's securing a court interdict to halt salary cuts and retrenchments at Motus
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 02 February 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) applauds the Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA)’s decisive action of securing a court interdict to halt salary cuts and retrenchments potentially affecting hundreds of staff at Motus, one of the leading automotive retailers in the country.
It is critical that Motus halt any further plans to retrench or cut staff salaries whilst this matter is before the Labour Court. It needs to abide by the Labour Relations Act and return to the negotiating table with MISA and other unions in this sector, including the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), to find progressive alternatives to the challenges facing the company and sector.
With an unemployment rate of 42.4%, we cannot afford to see a single job lost. With reports indicating that Motus recorded a R2.5 billion profit and paid their CEO R35 million in 2025, any claims of needing to retrench workers or cut their salaries ring hollow and are nothing short of ludicrous.
It is critical that Motus’ shareholders, in particular, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which invests workers’ pension and insurance funds, intervene with the company’s errant management and ensure that they do not continue upon this path of throwing workers under the bus.
COSATU will continue to offer its full support to MISA, NUMSA, NUM and the workforce of Motus in their struggle to defend employees’ rights to work and earn a decent living.
Issued by COSATU
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President Ramaphosa mourns passing of struggle veteran Leon Levy
2 February 2026
President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sadness at the passing in Cape Town of Mr Leon Levy, aged 96, who was the last surviving signatory of the Freedom Charter and Accused No 4 in the 1956 Treason Trial.
President Ramaphosa offers his deep sympathy to the family and friends of Mr Levy who took on numerous roles in the struggle alongside his equally committed identical twin brother, Norman, who passed away in July 2021. https://shorturl.at/N1yxO
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Statement on the expulsion of Israeli Charge de Affairs by South Africa and subsequent reprisals by Israel regime
Mbulelo Mandlana, SACP Head of Media, Communications and Information, 31 January 2026
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has noted the decision by the South African government to expel the Israeli Charge de Affairs from South Africa following his actions that violate rules of diplomacy and undermine South Africa’s sovereignty.
The undiplomatic conduct of Mr Ariel Siedmam shows disregard not only for our government and authorities but for the South African people as a whole. The conduct of this particular individual reflects the colonial operating logic of the apartheid Israeli regime and its officials when relating with African states and South Africa in particular.
As the SACP, we commend the government decision to censure the Zionist regime’s representative and assert South Africa’s sovereignty as a state.
We have further noted the retaliatory action of the Zionist Israeli regime in the expulsion of South Africa’s diplomats from Israel. These actions are to be expected in this particular context. The SACP calls on the South African government to totally cut diplomatic ties with apartheid Israel.
We reiterate our rejection of the colonial rule of Zionist Israel occupation over Palestine as well the apartheid regime’s destabilisation of the Middle East region. We reiterate our support for the struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation of their land.
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID
International-Solidarity
SACP condemns US total fuel blockade of Cuba
Mbulelo Mandlana, SACP Head of Media, Communications and Information, 31 January 2026
The South African Communist Party (SACP) condemns the latest US government’s total blockade of fuel supplies to Cuba, an act of aggression against the Cuban people.
In escalating its series of criminal acts against Cuba, the Trump administration has declared its intention to punish any nation that engages in any exchange with Cuba in energy resources and fuel in particular. These actions represent the lowest the US government has reached in its nearly century-long campaign of terror against the Cuban people for choosing an alternative economic system to capitalism.
As the SACP, we recognise that these actions by the US government are intended to annihilate the Cuban state and provide Donald Trump with a semblance of credibility and legitimacy amidst a disastrous foreign policy that has come to typify his administration. The desperate return to the naked implementation of the Monroe Doctrine concerning the entire region of South America occurs in the context of a chaotic political situation for his administration and is a result of an empire in sharp decline.
The cruelty and barbarism inherent in this policy action are impossible to ignore and signify the violence and immorality of the US imperialist regime in office and indeed the immorality of the US state as a whole. The unashamed suppression of the entire region of South America and the looting of its resources is not only backward and corrupt but also a gross violation of human rights and international law.
The US’s attempt to justify these heinous crimes through the so-called defence of “US national security” is not only ludicrous but is impossible to comprehend for any rational person who understands the scale of the US military in comparison to that of Cuba. The truth is that the US empire has become increasingly crude and seeks even more violent means to further its imperialist geopolitical interests at the expense of even the smallest nations, in this instance the peace-loving people of Cuba.
As the SACP, we denounce in the strongest terms the continued aggression of the US towards Cuba and call for an immediate cessation of these activities, just as we have called for the end of all economic blockade against Cuba by the US. We stand with the Cuban people and the Cuban revolution at this critical moment in time.
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID
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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