Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 23 February 2026 #CosatuCEC
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #Cosatu ordinary Central Executive Committee is in session at Braamfontein #WorkerControl #ClassSolidarity #Cosatu40 #SACTU70 #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #CosatuCallCentre 010 002 2590 #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
23 February 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- SADTU Students’ Chapter statement on SACE imposing monthly subscription fee on unemployed educators
- South Africa
- COSATU Public Service Unions rejects the unjustified Government Employees Medical Scheme increase and calls for a National Day of Action
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SAMWU welcomes Labour Court victories against City of Cape Town
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Major victory for PAME unionists at the 33rd Congress of the Regional Union of Athens
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
SADTU Students’ Chapter statement on SACE imposing monthly subscription fee on unemployed educators
17 February 2026.
It is with profound outrage that we respond to the South African Council for Educators’ (SACE) longstanding decision to impose a monthly subscription fee on unemployed graduates who aspire to be teachers. This is an egregious policy that not only undermines the aspirations of our youth but also reveals a profound disconnect between SACE and the realities faced by those who wish to dedicate their lives to education.
At a time when South Africa is grappling with high unemployment rates and economic instability, particularly among the youth, SACE’s insistence on charging aspiring teachers to remain registered with the council is not only shortsighted but profoundly unjust. This long standing practice places an additional financial burden on young graduates who have already invested their time and resources into their education, further perpetuating cycles of exclusion and inequality within our educational system.
It is unacceptable that the very institution that should champion educators chooses instead to impose financial barriers that threaten to prevent capable and passionate individuals from entering a profession that is crucial to our nation’s future.
This policy sends a clear message: that access to teaching, a vital component in our society’s development is reserved for those who can afford it, rather than being a right for all who are qualified and willing to contribute.
Moreover, this decision raises critical questions about SACE’s commitment to ethical governance and its role as a steward of educational integrity in South Africa. By prioritising subscription revenue over the support and development of future educators, SACE not only jeopardises the quality of education but also tarnishes its own reputation as a leading authority in the field.
We demand immediate and decisive action from SACE to rescind this unjust policy and to implement initiatives that genuinely support and uplift our educators, especially those at the beginning of their careers. The future of education in South Africa hinges on the ability to attract and nurture talented individuals who are passionate about teaching, regardless of their economic background.
It is time for SACE to align its policies with the transformative vision of our country, ensuring that every aspiring educator has the opportunity to thrive without the shackles of financial burden. We call on all stakeholders, government, civil society, and the public to join us in holding SACE accountable for creating a more inclusive educational landscape that embraces the ambitions of our youth rather than stifling them.
#NO JOB, NO FEE!
#STOP UNFAIR SACE LEVY
Issued by National Coordinator
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU Public Service Unions rejects the unjustified Government Employees Medical Scheme increase and calls for a National Day of Action
Simon Hlungwani, COSATU JMC Convener, 23 February 2026
The public service unions affiliated to COSATU and represented in the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council — DENOSA, NEHAWU, SADTU, POPCRU, SAMATU, PAWUSA and SAEPU — unequivocally rejects the decision by the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS) to impose a 9.8% member contribution increase for 2026, following an already devastating 13.4% increase in 2025.
While we have called the gathering to inform our members, the contributors of GEMS, their beneficiaries, and all relevant stakeholders about our provincial protest actions and ultimately our nation picket at GEMS offices. The matters related to GEMS are not only limited to our rejection of GEM’s imposition of exorbitant increases on contributions without any corresponding improvements regarding the benefits.
The national picket on the Thursday 26 February, will be phase one of our rolling mass action in line with our multi-pronged approach as adopted in our action plan. We have endorsed a three-month action plan, which will include activating the legal strategy and massive action at different workplaces from which a final national march will be rolled out should we not find joy with GEMS.
We will be evoking the legal strategy to fight the scheme on a number of areas.
We are going to embark on a three-month programme of action challenging the increases and governance failures in GEMS.
From January 2026, members are paying 9.8% more, this constitutes a staggering 23.3% increase over two years noting the 13.4% last year. This is an assault on public servants already battling a severe cost-of-living crisis.
This is taking place while:
· Public servants received only 5.5% salary adjustment in 2025/26
· Will receive 4% in 2026/27
· Inflation sits at approximately 3.5%
· Government subsidy increases are limited to 4.5%
Medical aid costs are rising far above wages and inflation. This is real wage erosion and a direct attack on workers’ take-home pay. GEMS was created through PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2006 to provide affordable, solidarity-based healthcare, especially for lower- and middle-income public servants. It was never intended to operate like a profit-driven commercial scheme. GEMS has unfortunately abandoned this mandate.
The Council for Medical Schemes recommended an increase of 3.3% for 2026. GEMS ignored this guidance and imposed an increase 6.5 percentage points higher, demonstrating a disturbing disregard for workers.
Managing the monopoly of GEMS
We will be activating a process to open for freedom of choice for public servants who wish to belong to other medical aid schemes to do so with full subsidy. This will happen immediately in the event that GEMS shows some resistance to our demands. We understand that we are part of the resolution that founded GEMS and to that effect we will be legally interrogating possibilities to amend such and or to fully withdraw from the agreement without inviting any negative implications to our members.
GEMS was formed not to conform to the prevailing conduct of other medical aid schemes but was endorsed as a special vehicle to disrupt the existing environment and cater for an affordable option as opposed to a profit driven initiative. The thinking was to collate a collective buying power of public servants to ensure better negotiations with the service providers.
While we engage in the revisiting the PSCBC Resolution 1 of 2006, clause 5.6 that is giving GEMS monopoly in the public service. The engagement will be through either a review and bring an alternative to GEMS, we will guard against any harm that will be transferred to our members. The legal team will investigate all possibilities for either an effective alternative or a drastic shape-up of GEMS.
Exemption to 25% reserves
Our legal team will be filing an urgent application for exemption to the required twenty five percent reserves as it is a close scheme and the guarantor remains government. Upon the signing of the founding agreement at the PSCBC, GEMS was processed through an act of parliament and therefore has full backing as a government entity.
Our understanding is that GEMS is a special close scheme and should not be treated as an ordinary scheme to be subjected to the prevailing environment. Such application will seek to also strengthen the governance and efficiencies in management so as to avoid abuse and collapse of the scheme.
Composition of the Board
In its founding architecture of Government Employee Medical Scheme as a negotiated product of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) was to ensure that the ownership and control of the scheme rests within its founding mandate. The control of the board was for both the employer, who have 50% vote in the PSCBC together with the workers’ representatives who collectively have 50% vote in the PSCBC to jointly be responsible for the governance of the scheme. So far only 50% of board members are directly appointed by the minister of DPSA representing the employer, while the other composition of governance is open to a vote which mostly does not guarantee the collective representation of the founding mandating of GEMS.
Our posture has always been to redirect the governance of GEMS to its founding mandate, where labour collectively will appoint board members in the same light with the employer. GEMS is a product of collective bargaining between the two active parties at the PSCBC – being the employer and public service workers. Therefore, it must also be reflected in its board or Accounting Authority as a structure that has to be directly representative, reporting and receiving mandates from the constituencies. We will be challenging the matter to among others have control over governance.
Governance in GEMS
We want to hold the board and management of GEMS accountable for its financial mismanagement. The conduct of board members and that of the Principal Officer (PO) and management seem not to consider and protect the interests of owners of GEMS. We believe that the Accounting Authority is failing in its fiduciary duties by allowing the exorbitant increases way above what even the Council of Medical Aids Schemes (CMS) would have recommended.
For a number of financial years now in terms of the recent annual reports of the CMS it has been exposed that the GEMS board and its committees hold by far more meetings than any boards of other medical aid schemes, albeit it is an umbrella medical aid scheme; yet there is no concrete reflection of the benefits of such numerous meeting. The sitting of more than fifty meetings in a year where each board member claim a full sitting board fee even in the face of poor performance of the scheme is a scandal that require investigation.
Financial Mismanagement
While the concentration of financial mismanagement is aimed at members abuse as alluded by the utterances of the Principal Officer, GEMS board has failed to monitor and bring to book any abuses within the scheme. It is wrong that the scheme is using a lot of money fighting its own members instead of instituting cost cutting measures.
Furthermore, the attention of this mismanagement is not focusing on parties contracted to manage the scheme. A huge share of financial gain goes to Metropolitan and Medscheme; the two companies entrusted to manage the scheme. We have always raised the matter that in its founding principles, GEMS was not supposed to be outsourcing administration to third parties but rather to build internal capacity for such. Medical Aid Schemes are not for-profit in terms of the Medical Aids Schemes Act. In this regard, this legislation did not anticipate that the schemes would contract out their administration, which is the fundamental reason for their existence, to the external for-profit enterprises. These administrators are encouraged to limit the coverage of benefits as much as possible whilst increasing co-payments by members and this defeats the whole fundamental objective of making the schemes not for-profit when the administrator is driven by profit in which they benefit from declining coverage of benefits. This becomes even more of a profiteering exercise when the contracted for-profit administrator operates in an uncompetitive environment of more than 800 000 principal members.
Unwarranted Marketing Budget
GEMS is determined as a monopoly scheme and somehow has an advantage on public servants joining it due to the agreed subsidy from government. So we fail to understand why GEMS would have a huge marketing budget that include using mainstream media to advertise while it is certainly guaranteed members who are employed under the Public Service Act. This is irrational and evidently fruitless expenditure in the interest of the marketing companies and this too must be investigated in terms of the cost and benefit analysis. Workers are now being forced to pay for governance failures they did not create.
Tanzenite Beneficiaries
We have now noted with concerns the decision by GEMS directing tanzanite beneficiaries not to use private hospitals but to go to public hospitals. The question then becomes why these beneficiaries must pay for medical aid (GEMS) if they must utilise public hospitals. They are paying for same services that they will get at a very low costs in public hospitals or public health centres.
Our Central Demands
• Immediate withdrawal of the 9.8% increases
• A full forensic audit into governance, finances and procurement
• Review of outsourcing contracts and administrative costs
• Alignment of executive remuneration with public-service norms
• Implementation of labour’s anti-fraud proposals
• Redesign of benefits to protect lower-income members
• Genuine engagement within the PSCBC
• Accountability, including the removal of implicated executives
Legal and Structural Intervention:
We have endorsed a three-month programme of action, including:
- Immediate legal action challenging the increases and governance failures
- Pursuit of exemption from the rigid 25% reserve requirement, recognising GEMS as a state-backed closed scheme
- Institute legal action against exclusionary measures of tanzanite beneficiaries
- A review of outsourcing arrangements and cost drivers
- Intervention to realign governance with the original PSCBC mandate
- Exploration of amendments to Resolution 1 of 2006 to allow freedom of medical scheme choice with full subsidy protection for public servants
Programme of Mass Action:
We are going to embark on Provincial pickets on 24 February 2026 at GEMS regional offices. These will be followed by a National Day of Action on Thursday, 26 February 2026 at GEMS Head Office, Pretoria. These demonstrations mark the end of Phase 1, to be followed by intensified workplace mobilisation and, if necessary, a national march.
In conclusion:
Public servants are not asking for luxury. They are demanding fairness, transparency, and a medical scheme that serves its founding purpose — to protect workers, not burden them. GEMS exists because of workers. It must therefore serve workers.
__________________
SAMWU welcomes Labour Court victories against City of Cape Town
Hlalanathi Gagayi, Xolile Boss Nxu Regional Secretary, 23 February 2026
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) in the Xolile Boss Nxu (Cape Metro) Region welcomes and celebrates three significant Labour Court judgements issued last week, which have vindicated our members who were unfairly dismissed by the City of Cape Town and forced to endure more than 12 months without employment.
From the outset, the Union has consistently maintained that the City must exercise fairness, consistency and legality in its disciplinary processes. The fact that three different judges have independently ruled in favour of our members confirms what we have
always asserted: the dismissals were unjust.
These outcomes are not only victories for the affected workers but also for the principle of fairness in the workplace. Two of the judgements relate to matters within the Safety and Security Directorate, involving an officer and an administrative clerk. The third judgement concerns a Superintendent in the Energy Directorate.
In the case of the officer, the Court correctly rejected the employer’s rigid “zero tolerance” approach, which has frequently been applied in a blanket and mechanical manner, particularly by the Executive Director. The judgement makes it clear that discipline
cannot be imposed arbitrarily or without proper consideration of fairness and proportionality. The City must now ensure that it applies the law consistently and justly.
In the matter of the administrative clerk, the Court reaffirmed the fundamental principle of consistency in disciplinary action. The City chose to charge and dismiss a subordinate employee while failing to take action against a supervisor who committed similar
misconduct.
Such selective discipline undermines trust and fairness in the workplace, and the Court has rightly corrected this injustice.
The Energy Directorate matter involved a Superintendent dismissed for allegedly breaching a so-called “common-sense rule”. The Court has now clarified this issue and set aside the dismissal, reinforcing the principle that employees cannot be punished on vague
or undefined standards.
These victories follow another positive Labour Court judgement last month, in which a Superintendent in the Safety and Security Directorate was ordered to resume his duties after being unfairly demoted. Together, these rulings send a clear message that unlawful
and procedurally flawed disciplinary actions will not withstand judicial scrutiny.
Our estimation is that these matters will cost the City well over a million rand in compensation, excluding legal costs. This is public money that could have been directed towards improving service delivery and addressing the pressing needs of residents. Instead,
it has been wasted on avoidable litigation, despite the City maintaining a fully-fledged legal department.
We call upon political leadership within the City to reflect seriously on these repeated legal defeats. Councillors have a responsibility to exercise oversight and ensure that municipal resources are used responsibly. Ratepayers deserve accountability, and
the public must take note of how their money is being spent.
As SAMWU, we are energised by these outcomes. We will continue to defend our members vigorously against unfair treatment and unlawful disciplinary action. We remain steadfast in our commitment to justice, fairness and the protection of workers’ rights within
the City of Cape Town.
Issued by SAMWU Xolile Boss Nxu (Cape Metro) Region
International-Solidarity
Major victory for PAME unionists at the 33rd Congress of the Regional Union of Athens
by WFTU HQ, 17 Feb 2026
The faction of PAME unionists (DAS) once again emerges strengthened, as the leading force
With the completion of the 33rd Congress of the Regional Union of Athens, an important step forward was made with the significant victory of DAS, the faction of PAME unionists, which once again emerged as the leading force, further strengthened with 34% and 459 delegate votes, up from 371 votes and 31.23% in 2023. DAS also secured 11 seats in the new Union Board, up from 9 in 2023.
In the largest Congress body of the past 15 years, increased by 199 valid votes, DAS received 88 more votes than in 2023.
The gap between DAS and all other factions widened significantly, with all others remaining below 16%. The second force, PASKE (social democrats), received 218 votes and 15.79%.
The difference is therefore more than double, amounting to 241 votes and 18 percentage points. DAS also more than doubles the number of seats compared to any other force.
Additionally, DAS will send 10 delegates to the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) Congress, up from 6 previously.
This result marks an important step forward for workers and unions in Athens, strengthening those who struggle daily for dignity and a decent life.
A stronger DAS opens the way for stronger unions at workplaces, vibrant collective processes and sustained struggle against government and business groups, with a clear orientation against the policies of exploitation, poverty and war.
It also constitutes a clear response to the line of social partnership, the line of submission and integration, and to the decay of government-aligned and employer-backed trade unionism represented by the factions of New Democracy, PASOK and SYRIZA, which have supported all anti-labour laws, culminating in the disgraceful “social agreement” undermining collective bargaining agreements.
Now is the time for workers’ real demands to come to the forefront, including wage increases, reduction of working hours, the signing of Collective Agreements and the protection of health and safety.
This is what the election result at the Athens Regional Union, the largest Regional Union in Greece, signifies.
It reflects the positive developments within Athens unions, with the largest Congress body in 15 years reaching 1,500 delegates, dozens of new trade unionists actively participating and over 40 newly established unions joining the Athens Regional Union.
This hard-fought battle culminated in the weekend elections, the first major electoral process following the passing of the anti-labour bill on collective agreements.
The result shatters government claims that the bill enjoys “social acceptance,” proving that only the employer-aligned union leadership of ND, PASOK and SYRIZA, together with industrialists seeking to impose restrictions on agreements, support it.
Workers have every reason to feel proud. The strengthened position of PAME is the best guarantee that unions will become more alive and militant across workplaces such as factories, hotels, supermarkets, construction, transport and offices.
Throughout the Congress, hundreds of delegates ensured its success, blocking attempts by the ND–PASOK–SYRIZA majority to impose electronic procedures.
The result was received with enthusiasm, applause and slogans.
With the slogan, “Without you, no gear turns, worker, you can live without bosses,” PAME trade unionists pledged to return immediately to workplaces to further organise workers’ struggle.
PAME trade unionists will be in the front line for a Regional Union capable of turning the page and organizing the fight against policies that deprive workers of oxygen, bringing poverty, exploitation and war.
______________________________
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