Taking COSATU Today Forward, 17 April 2026 #CosatuMayDay2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #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
17 April 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!
- 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 welcomes former VBS auditor, Sipho Malaba's permanent disbarment and R10 million fine
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Singhitarai explosion exposes systemic OSH failures in India
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
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 welcomes former VBS auditor, Sipho Malaba's permanent disbarment and R10 million fine
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, 17 April 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes former Venda Building Society Mutual Bank (VBS) auditor, Sipho Malaba’s permanent disbarment and R10 million fine by the Independent Regulator Board for Auditors (IRBA) for his disgraceful role in whitewashing its capture and rampant looting of millions of Rands.
This is a long overdue action by IRBA against Mr. Malaba who had been employed by KPMG to audit VBS’ financial records.
Mr. Malaba’s role not only helped cover up and whitewash one of South Africa’s most shameful instances of fraud, corruption and theft, it enabled this to continue for several years.
This criminal heist of epic proportions saw thousands of VBS clients, mostly pensioners and workers lose millions of Rands in hard earned savings. It saw the collapse of VBS built up over many years through workers and pensioners’ savings and investments. It also saw innocent junior staff at VBS lose their jobs and their ability to take care of their families.
Whilst we are heartened that Mr. Malaba may never again practise as an auditor, a role he is clearly morally and ethically unfit for, it is not enough. Justice demands that the South African Police Service charge and the National Prosecuting Authority prosecute him for his role in the VBS heist. Such persons should not be allowed to get away with the theft of workers and pensioners’ hard-earned monies, especially the poor.
It is critical that National Treasury, IRBA and Parliament, expedite previous commitments to amend the Auditing Profession Act to require the mandatory rotation of auditing firms every five years to prevent incestuous and often very corrupt relationships developing between auditors and auditing firms with the very companies over whom they are employed to provide honest and credible audits.
Perpetual auditing contracts over these companies compromises the integrity of their audits and provides a direct conflict of interest for these auditing firms. VBS, Steinhoff and countless other financial crime scenes are examples of the very real dangers to workers, pensioners and society of allowing these financially incestuous relations to develop.
COSATU will continue to engage with and push National Treasury, IRBA and Parliament to ensure that this long overdue tightening of the Auditing Profession Act is revived and fast tracked.
This will be key to boosting President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African National Congress’ led government’s efforts to cleanse the state, private sector and society of the cancers of state capture, corruption and criminality.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
Singhitarai explosion exposes systemic OSH failures in India
17 April, 2026
At least 20 workers were killed and nearly 50 exposed to a high-pressure steam pipe explosion at a Vedanta power plant in Chhattisgarh, India on 14 April 2026. The death toll is expected to rise.
Preliminary investigations point to excessive pressure caused by fuel accumulation inside the furnace, confirming the incident was preventable.
The plant has no union representation, and unions have reportedly been unable to access the site, raising serious concerns about safety oversight and accountability.
Systemic failure
Official data shows that in 2022, India had 268,747 working factories but only 6,244 safety officers — one for every 40 factories — making effective inspection impossible. Of 4,036 recorded workplace injuries that year, 1,053 were fatal. More than one in four reported incidents ended in death, reflecting both the severity of accidents and likely underreporting.
At a South Asia regional OSH webinar held by IndustriALL on 15 April, trade unions reiterated these concerns, pointing to weak inspection systems, lack of enforcement and the absence of worker participation as key drivers of recurring industrial accidents.
Unions in Pakistan reported repeated fatal accidents in the power and textile sectors driven by weak enforcement and precarious work. In Bangladesh, safety improvements remain uneven beyond the garment sector, leaving workers in other industries exposed.
These examples underline that the accident in Singhitarai reflect broader regional failures in enforcement and accountability.
Accountability, not just compensation
Company responsibility cannot end with compensation announcements. Without accountability, the cycle will continue.
Sanjay Singh, general secretary of the Indian National Electricity Workers Federation and IndustriALL executive committee member, said:
“This was not an unforeseen accident. Operating with outdated and scrapped machinery under excessive load is a clear case of negligence. The real question is how such a plant was allowed to operate in the first place.”
Sanjay Vadhavkar, general secretary of the Steel, Metal & Engineering Workers’ Federation of India and IndustriALL executive committee member, said:
“As per available information, this could have been avoided and workers’ lives saved with proper safety systems. Rising industrial accidents in India reflect eroding safety controls, reduced inspections, and self-certification. The dilution of safety laws in favour of industry is putting workers at risk. Unions will continue to fight for safe workplaces.”
Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary, said:
“Worker safety is a fundamental obligation under ILO Conventions C155 and C187. This tragedy exposes serious failures in
enforcement and accountability. It also underlines the critical role of worker representation in identifying risks and preventing accidents. The company must take full responsibility, ensure full transparency regarding the causes of the explosion, and guarantee
that workers are able to organise and be represented to prevent such tragedies from happening again.”
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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