Taking COSATU Today Forward, 26 February 2026 #DownWithGEMS
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY #Cosatu public service unions acknowledges all workers who came out in great numbers on the National Day of Actiona against #GEMS’ exorbitant member medical contribution increase of 9.8% #ClassSolidarity #Cosatu40 #SACTU70 #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #CosatuCallCentre 010 002 2590 #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
26 February 2026
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Media Invite: SAMWU to convene its 13th National Congress under the Theme: “Towards 4 Decades and Beyond in Defence of Workers’ Interests”
- South Africa
- COSATU saddened by developments at Ekapa Mine
- NEHAWU Statement on the 2026 Budget
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Responsible exit is the only responsible choice in Myanmar’s war economy-Five years after the coup, the case for responsible exit from Myanmar is clearer than ever.
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics
Media Invite: SAMWU to convene its 13th National Congress under the Theme: “Towards 4 Decades and Beyond in Defence of Workers’ Interests”
Papikie Mohale, SAMWU National Media Officer, 25 February 2026
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) will convene its 13th National Congress from 17 to 19 March 2026 at Church Unlimited, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. Held under the theme “Towards 4 Decades and Beyond in Defence of Workers’ Interests,” this Congress marks an important milestone as the Union reflects on nearly forty years of militant struggle, organisational consolidation, and unwavering defence of municipal and water sector workers.
Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the open sessions of Congress on 17 and 19 March 2026.
The Congress will be addressed by the national leadership of the Alliance partners: The African National Congress (ANC), The South African Communist Party (SACP), The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). These addresses will engage the political, economic and social challenges confronting workers and outline the programme required to defend and advance working-class interests.
The 13th National Congress will deliberate on key organisational, political and collective bargaining matters, including strategies to strengthen the Union and respond decisively to the deepening crisis in local government.
Members of the media are encouraged to confirm their attendance with the National Media Officer, Cde Papikie Mohale, at pap...@samwu.org.za in order to secure accreditation by 10 March 2026.
Please note that only accredited members of the media will be allowed access to the Congress venue.
Issued by SAMWU Secretariat
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU saddened by developments at Ekapa Mine
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 26 February 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is saddened by the turn of events at Ekapa Mine in Kimberley, following the company’s decision to apply for liquidation.
Five miners who were trapped underground after a mud rush in the early hours of last Tuesday, are now presumed dead. Nine days later, their bodies are yet to be recovered.
On Wednesday management announced it was applying for liquidation given the significant capital investment it would take to restore access to the 890-metre-deep shaft. However, recovery efforts are set to continue, management assured.
COSATU’s thoughts are firmly with the missing miners’ families at this time. We hope the recovery operation will yield positive results soon. The Federation is also devastated that the approximately 1 300 workers at Ekapa are soon to be jobless. Given the country’s dangerously high unemployment rate of 41.1%, we cannot afford to lose a single job. In the same breath, no job is worth losing a life over – and in this instance it appears we have lost five breadwinners, the impact on their families is unimaginable.
COSATU hopes the board and management of Ekapa Mine are not attempting to escape accountability by hastily applying for liquidation. We therefore call for a thorough investigation into the cause of the mud rush. The probe should also explore weather with the appropriate safety and early warning mechanisms in place, the mud rush could have been anticipated or completely prevented.
The deaths of these five miners must not be for nought. Ekapa Mine must ensure that both the families of the five miners and all the workers are paid their dues because anything less would be a grave injustice.
Issued by COSATU
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NEHAWU Statement on the 2026 Budget
Zola Saphetha, NEHAWU General Secretary, February 25, 2026
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] notes the tabling of the fiscal framework and other related Bills in the form of the 2026/2027 Budget, by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana today.
The presentation of the budget takes place against the backdrop of the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), in which the President of the Republic, Cyril Ramaphosa, assured the nation that we have turned the tide of low growth and economic uncertainty. The 2026 Budget itself is premised on the theme of “A fiscal turning point in a resilient economy”.
However, the backdrop to the 2026 Budget is a context of unsustainable and crisis levels of unemployment, currently standing at 42.1%. The 2026 Budget Review indicates that the economy is only expected to grow by 1.6% in 2026 with a forecast of 2% real GDP in 2028, yet the fiscal strategy is still narrowly focused on stabilization rather than the transformation of the underlying structure of barriers that reproduce inequality, poverty and unemployment. South Africa continues to face structural unemployment, severe youth joblessness, widening wealth concentration, municipal service collapse and high household indebtedness. In this context, a budget anchored primarily on debt stabilisation at 78.9 percent of GDP and deficit reduction signals that fiscal credibility remains the dominant objective rather than the triple-crises.
Fiscal policy stance
As NEHAWU, we are not convinced that the 2026 Budget can legitimately be regarded as a “turning point”, as claimed by the Treasury. It may be true that in the overall austerity measures have been discontinued in many spending items and in aggregate, but the fact of the matter is that the 2026 Budget does not represent a means for the recovery of the capacity that has been lost through rolling budget-cuts that were imposed over the past decade. The so-called turning point would only be reached when the effects of the previous decade-long austerity measures have been addressed and the weakened state capacity in terms of personnel and expertise have been reversed - given the existing mass vacancies. In other words, NEHAWU rejects the notion that the current allocations for the compensation of public service employees and the overall consolidated government expenditure over the medium-term should be regarded as a baseline, going-forward. That is an absurdity and we demand an explanation as to how the prevailing vacancies that have been under a long-running moratorium and that undermine quality in the delivery of public services such as in healthcare, policing, home affairs, etc. are going to be filled.
We welcome the Minister’s commitment to diversifying South Africa’s trade portfolios, this must be prioritized in the context of US driven tariff wars, new and emerging markets and the establishment and strengthening of various economic and political Global South blocs. NEHAWU urges government, in particular the National Treasury and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to ensure that practical steps are taken for the realization of a diversified trading portfolio.
NEHAWU firmly rejects any attempts to introduce fiscal anchors in the upcoming 2026 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The inflation rate projected at 3.4 percent in 2026 may appear moderate in macroeconomic terms, but for low-income households whose consumption basket is concentrated in food, transport and energy, even modest inflation erodes real income. The increases in fuel levies and excise duties in line with inflation compound these pressures indirectly through transport and food price pass through effects. The inflation linked increase of social grants means that the poor are merely being kept at the same real income level and thus being protected from deterioration rather than experiencing a meaningful improvement in living standards.
Notwithstanding its limitation of benefiting only a relatively small group of the formally employed middle income earners rather than the unemployed majority, full inflation adjustment of personal income tax brackets is welcome. The withdrawal of the R20 billion tax increase is said to provide macro stability and avoids dampening fragile growth, yet it also illustrates a reluctance to pursue more progressive taxation instruments in a country with one of the highest levels of wealth inequality globally. In a context where corporate concentration and capital flight remain concerns, the absence of stronger redistributive tax reform suggests that the fiscal burden continues to rely heavily on consumption and labour income rather than wealth and capital.
Public Service
Based on the themes of both the SONA and the Budget Speech, we hoped that the hollowing out of our frontline public services would come to an end. The consistent pursuance of fiscal consolidation has led to government failing to fulfill many constitutional and developmental obligations and mandates, particularly under section 27 of the Constitution. The so-called turning point would only be reached when the effects of the previous decade-long austerity measures have been addressed and the weakened state capacity in terms of personnel has been reversed, especially with regard the prevailing mass vacancies. In other words, NEHAWU rejects the notion that the current allocations for the compensation of public service employees and the overall consolidated government expenditure over the medium-term should be regarded as a baseline, going-forward. That’s an absurdity and we demand an explanation as to how the prevailing vacancies that have been under moratorium and that undermine quality in the delivery of public services such as in healthcare, policing, home affairs, etc. are going to be filled.
Containing the public service wage bill and implementing savings measures reflect fiscal consolidation logic that may limit the expansion of state capacity at a time when communities demand more effective service delivery. Nonetheless, we note certain commitments by the Minister to fill some vacancies and prioritise the proper resourcing of the public service, in particular allocation directed towards the recruitment and hiring of 3000 staff for Home Affairs. But this is minuscule and must only be regarded as a start in the strengthening the state’s capacity.
Education
Having matriculated under difficult circumstances, on an annual basis students find themselves without access to the higher education institutions. Others are left to sleep on the streets as a result of a lack of student accommodation. National Treasury must decisively deal with this annual crisis, which requires the resourcing and construction of new universities, TVET and CET colleges to accommodate our growing youth population and increasing matriculants seeking to enter higher education. Therefore, we welcome the commitment to construct new tertiary institutions, in particular the much anticipated and urgently needed, Ekurhuleni University.
However, it is deplorable that the allocations for University Subsidies are barely above the projected inflation over the medium-term. In fact, as NEHAWU we are very concern that the allocation for the National Student Financial Aid is going to be stagnant in the medium-term - actually it shrinks by 0.1% from 2025/26 to 2028/29. At the same time it is a serious concern that the allocation for infrastructure for Community Education and Training (CET) grows by a modest 5.2% over the medium-term, at the time when it is clear that the 2030 National Development Plan goal on enrolment in the CET sector are not going to be met, given the current downward trend which is in part caused by poor infrastructure. Nonetheless, we welcome the fact that there is a steady increase in allocations for Early Childhood Development (ECD) - growing by about 13.8% over the medium-term - though this is from a very small baseline and the ECD sector is still at a small scale and far from meeting the existing need in the population.
Healthcare
It is deplorable that spending in healthcare barely grows above the projected inflation rate of 4.2% over the medium-term. We condemn this more so because the Treasury has now resumed adjusting the medical tax credits for inflation, at the time when it should be scrapping this unconstitutional and discriminatory subsidy that benefits only 14% of the population who are medical aid scheme members.
It is ridiculous that the NHI Act is currently bogged down and facing 14 litigations by reactionary forces that seek to maintain the current ghastly Apartheid-like status quo of a two-tiered health system in which the private sector cannot stand on its own two feet and only survives by leaching on the public sector – being propped up from collapsing through medical tax credits. Government is forfeiting at least about R33 billion annually because of these tax expenditure subsidy for those who have health insurance.
In fact, in this 2026 Budget the Treasury has just decided to provide inflation-linked adjustments to the R364 per month subsidy amidst the declining numbers of members of the medical aid schemes in this extortionate private health industry, as highlighted in the Competition Commission’s Report on the Health Market Inquiry.
NEHAWU reiterates its call for the scrapping of the medical tax credits - they are based on the provisions of the inherited Apartheid regime’s Income Tax Act of 1962. Instead, this approximately R33 billion in annual tax credits could be used to expedite the roll-out of System-Strengthening measures in public healthcare in the current phase of the implementation of the National Health Insurance Act.
Nonetheless, we welcome the fact that the critical posts, especially those in the division of the health facility inspection at the Office of Health Standards and Compliance (OHSC) are going to be filled.
This shall hopefully go a long way in enhancing the monitoring and ratification of bad practices by incompetent managers of healthcare facilities and reinforce our own efforts as NEHAWU in fighting for the implementation of occupational health and safety, improvement in infrastructure and the consistent application of the mandatory clinical protocols. Indeed, we welcome the Minister’s commitment to properly resource a number of dilapidated healthcare facilities such as the Doctor George Mukhari Academic and Inkosi Albert Luthuli hospitals.
We also note and welcome the R7.8 billion allocation to NHI Grants (NHI indirect grants), the commitment to establish seven new provincial hospitals as well as the allocations and investment in public healthcare (R24 billion) and to crucial district health programmes (R92 billion).
Social Services
NEHAWU also expected that National Treasury would respond to extremely challenging socio-economic conditions impacting the disabled, the elderly and those most vulnerable in a society suffering from systemic levels of unemployment and income inequality.
We therefore take note of the above inflation increases to social grants, this includes an increase to the old age grant, disability and care dependency and war veterans grant. We also note smaller increases to the foster care and child support grants.
However, it is baffling that the Minister continues to refuse to increase the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant in line with or above inflation, as has been done with the other grants. Year-on-year, various commitments are made to explore the resourcing and expansion of the SRD grant into a universal basic income guarantee, to no avail.
Unfortunately, in the 7th Administration, the commitment to introduce a universal basic income grant is diluted into a regressive policy adjustment, referred to as the ‘job seekers grant’. With the recent release of 2026 Food Poverty Lines by Statistics South Africa indicating increasingly high levels of food insecurity, with significant portions of the population unable to afford a nutritious diet, these adjustments and the noncommittal attitude of National Treasury significantly worsen already unliveable and unsustainable conditions.
END
Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat.
International-Solidarity
Responsible exit is the only responsible choice in Myanmar’s war economy-Five years after the coup, the case for responsible exit from Myanmar is clearer than ever.
25 February, 2026
Five years after the military coup, Myanmar is no longer a “high-risk sourcing destination.” It is a war economy. In this joint op-ed, Myanmar trade union leader in exile Khaing Zar and IndustriALL Global Union General Secretary Atle Høie set out why responsible exit is now the only responsible choice.
Five years after the military coup, Myanmar is no longer a “high-risk sourcing destination.” It is a war economy.
The garment sector remains one of the junta’s largest sources of hard currency. The World Bank reported US$5.5 billion in garment exports in 2022. Exports remained above US$5 billion in 2023 before falling to US$4.46 billion in 2024. In that same year, Europe alone imported approximately €2.8 billion worth of textile and clothing products from Myanmar, much of it entering duty-free under the EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme.
These are not neutral trade statistics. They represent large-scale foreign-exchange inflows into a financial system tightly controlled by the military authorities.
State media reports document repeated Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) foreign-exchange allocations to priority imports such as fuel and edible oil. On 2 September 2024, the CBM instructed that up to 75 per cent of foreign currency earned from trade, CMP garment exports, and natural-resource sales could be directed toward fuel and palm-oil imports. As economist Sean Turnell has detailed in The Military, Money, and Myanmar: Breaking the Nexus, post-coup measures have centralized foreign-exchange control through forced currency conversions, multiple exchange rates, restrictions on outward payments and tight control over currency dealers. Export earnings, including those from garments, do not flow freely in such a system. They are captured and redirected.
They help sustain regime priorities.
Myanmar’s military continues aerial bombardments, forced recruitment, arbitrary detention and the systematic destruction of civilian communities. Oil and dual-use fuel imports are indispensable to these operations. When foreign currency is centrally controlled, it becomes part of the machinery that enables repression.
The international community has acknowledged this crisis.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions under Executive Order 14014 targeting military leaders and military-linked enterprises. The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and the European Union have adopted parallel restrictive measures. These sanctions prohibit making funds or economic resources available to designated actors. They are intended to prevent financial support from sustaining the junta.
Yet sanctions cannot achieve their purpose if broader commercial activity continues to generate foreign exchange that enters the same controlled system. When currency is captured and reallocated by the military authorities, continued sourcing risks undermining the objectives of sanctions policy.
In June 2025, the International Labour Organization invoked Article 33 of its Constitution, an extraordinary measure used only in cases of serious and persistent violations. The ILO called on member States to review their relations with Myanmar and ensure they do not contribute, directly or indirectly, to ongoing abuses.
That review must extend to trade preferences.
Myanmar continues to benefit from the EU’s EBA scheme, which grants duty-free market access on the condition of compliance with core human rights and labour conventions. Those conditions are plainly not met. Freedom of association has been dismantled. Independent unions have been outlawed. Trade union leaders face arrest and persecution. Continuing EBA under these circumstances sends a dangerous signal: that systematic violations do not carry meaningful economic consequences.
The EU should immediately initiate suspension of EBA preferences for Myanmar. This is not a measure against workers; it is a measure against a regime that captures trade revenues. Preferential access should not be allowed to strengthen a system that systematically crushes labour rights.
Some brands argue that enhanced human rights due diligence allows them to remain responsibly engaged. But due diligence requires workers to speak freely and organise independently. Those conditions do not exist. Monitoring mechanisms cannot substitute for freedom of association. In the absence of genuine mitigation possibilities, continued sourcing becomes increasingly indefensible.
Where mitigation is impossible, disengagement becomes necessary under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
This does not mean abrupt withdrawal without safeguards. It means responsible exit.
Responsible exit requires advance notice, wage guarantees, severance payments and compensation funds. It requires consultation with legitimate worker representatives, including those in exile. It requires safeguards to prevent factories or contracts from being transferred to military-linked conglomerates.
Responsible exit is not abandonment. It is refusal to remain financially entangled in repression.
Myanmar’s workers have already paid a heavy price for resisting military rule. Many joined the Civil Disobedience Movement. Many have been dismissed, displaced or forced into hiding. They do not ask for cosmetic audits. They ask for international actors to align their economic decisions with their stated commitments to human rights.
In a war economy, neutrality is an illusion.
Trade, sourcing and sanctions policy must be brought into coherence with reality. Continuing business as usual while repression deepens is not a neutral choice. It is a choice that carries responsibility.
The credibility of global labour rights and human rights commitments now depends on whether governments and brands are prepared to act accordingly.
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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