Taking COSATU Today Forward, 20 May 2026
Norman Mampane
|
COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #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
20 May 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
Organize at every workplace and demand respect for labour rights Now!
Defend Jobs Now!
Join COSATU NOW!
Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- National Treasury extends public comment period for draft Capital Flow Management Regulations
- South Africa
- South African left forces convene the Conference of the Left to build working-class unity
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- The hidden crisis facing kitchen women in Ghana’s pre-tertiary schools
- Trade union take on the Progress Declaration of the 2026 International Migration Review Forum
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics#ClassWar
National Treasury extends public comment period for draft Capital Flow Management Regulations
15 May 2026
Extension of deadline for public comment on the Draft Capital Flow Management Regulations, 2026 (Formerly Known as the Exchange Control Regulations, 1961)
National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) hereby notify stakeholders that the deadline for submitting public comments on the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations, 2026 (draft Regulations) has been extended from 18 May 2026 to 30 June 2026. The extension notice will be gazetted in due course.
The draft Regulations, published on 17 April 2026, can be accessed on the National Treasury website (www.treasury.gov.za). This extension is granted following requests to allow stakeholders additional time to review the draft Regulations and provide input.
Media attention and public concerns have already been raised on the draft Regulations. Thus far, most of these concerns relate to the treatment, possession and trade of crypto assets, specifically the potential restrictions on cross-border transactions. Some of these critical concerns are addressed below.
Future
treatment of crypto assets The draft Regulations do not intend to criminalise the possession of crypto assets or to apply the Regulations retrospectively. A proposed cross-border crypto asset framework, in the form of a draft manual, will soon be released
for public comment to complement the draft Regulations. This draft manual will provide clarity on the proposed activities that would result in a crypto asset transaction being considered as cross-border and the transaction being subject to appropriate capital
flow management measures.
The manual will also outline the obligations and responsibilities of authorised crypto asset service providers. The draft cross-border crypto asset framework is designed to enable lawful cross-border crypto asset transactions within clear guidelines, reducing
uncertainty and protecting the integrity of the financial system under the capital flow management framework.
The Constitution protects various rights, including property rights, while also recognising that suspected illicit activities warrant the attention of the authorities.
Undermining private ownership
The concerns that holders of crypto assets, or even other assets like gold or foreign currency, may in certain circumstances be required to sell these to the state or banks dealing in foreign exchange are misplaced. Any requirement to dispose of these assets would arise only under limited circumstances, such as where an offence has been committed.
Further, there have been various exemptions and relaxations of exchange controls over the years, resulting in South Africans being able to legitimately externalise capital for foreign investment diversification or hold foreign assets in various forms.
The current draft Regulations are meant to strengthen the authorities’ abilities to detect, deter or disrupt illicit financial flows. The proposed framework will complement the regulatory regimes already implemented by the Financial Intelligence Centre and Financial Sector Conduct Authority.
Public comment submissions
Written comments on the draft Regulations must be sent to National Treasury at Commentdraf...@treasury.gov.za by close of business on Tuesday, 30 June 2026.
Following the deadline, National Treasury and the SARB will consider the written comments and make appropriate revisions.
For any queries, please email Me...@treasury.gov.za and Me...@resbank.co.za.
Issued by National Treasury
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
South
African left forces convene the Conference of the Left to build working-class unity
Mbulelo
Mandlana, SACP Head of Media, Communications and Information
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
From 29 to 31 May 2026, South African organisations of the left will converge at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg for a national Conference of the Left, convened under the theme: “Building a Left Movement for Working Class and Popular Power”.
The Conference of the Left is collectively convened by organisations of various forms that identify with political aims and objectives conventionally associated with the leftist political tradition. The conference is the pinnacle of the varied efforts of the forces of the left to realise positive outcomes from their diverse and sustained struggles over time. These struggles, undertaken individually and collectively, have been instrumental in creating conditions for this conference as a common political platform of the left to address critical issues facing the working class and the people as a whole.
The Conference of the Left is not intended to form a new political party, nor is it to impose ideological uniformity. Its purpose is to strengthen coordination, unity in action, political education and organised struggle among diverse left, working-class and popular formations.
This conference arises from the urgent material conditions confronting the working class in South Africa, the African continent and the world. In the South African context, these conditions are epitomised by deepening unemployment, poverty, inequality, austerity, privatisation, and the continued domination of monopoly capital over the economy despite the democratic breakthrough of 1994. The conference will pay particular attention to conditions of the people characterised by the gradual erosion of their progress through market orthodoxy and neoliberal dominance. The Conference of the Left convenes on the understanding that the crisis facing South Africa is fundamentally a crisis of capitalism and that only organised working-class power can chart a strategic way toward genuine liberation and socialism.
The democratic breakthrough of 1994 dismantled the formal institutions of racial domination. It extended political rights, opened representative institutions, and initiated a period of social provision that improved the material conditions of millions. However, it did not dismantle the economic foundations of inequality. The ownership remained concentrated in the same hands. Productive capacity remained orientated toward extraction and export. Finance capital retained its grip on investment and macroeconomic policy. This is the objective context within which the Conference of the Left becomes necessary and indeed urgent.
The organisations that form part of the conference come from various corners of the country and vary in their nature, spheres of operation and organisational forms. To epitomise this diversity, the conference will be composed of political parties, non-governmental organisations, community organisations, trade unions, trade union federations, youth and student organisations, legacy organisations, think tank organisations of the left and invited individuals and institutions. Some international organisations and speakers have also been invited to the conference.
These organisations and individuals, while diverse and wide-ranging in their nature, are united by a shared perspective about the nature of the South African political and economic crisis and the urgent need to collectively devise new means to confront this national crisis as defined. The Conference of the Left is therefore not merely a discussion forum. It is a strategic moment in rebuilding working-class unity and sharpening the offensive against monopoly capital.
The South African Communist Party, working together with various revolutionary organisations, has played and continues to play a coordinating and convening role for the Conference of the Left.
At a strategic level, the process of convening of the Conference of the Left is driven by a steering committee that is composed of representatives from various organisations that are part of the conference. The steering committee is responsible for formulating and continually refining the conference agenda, considering and approving key actions related to conference arrangements, discussing and processing the political content to serve as a guide and framework for the discussions, and overseeing the overall preparation and proceedings of the conference when it convenes.
The working class remains the primary social force at the centre of the Conference of the Left, and its objectives are at the centre of the conference’s agenda.
The central task of the conference is to lay the foundations for a Left Popular Front capable of uniting the working class, the poor and progressive forces in sustained struggle against capitalist exploitation and for socialist transformation. In that spirit, the conference and its declaration will ensure the sustainability of the political programme of the conference and its objectives.
We call on all progressive and revolutionary forces to support this historic initiative as part of the broader struggle for a socialist South Africa.
Admission to the conference remains open but limited and shall close on 20 May 2026.
ISSUED
BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Media, Communications & Information Department | MCID
International-Solidarity
The hidden crisis facing kitchen women in Ghana’s pre-tertiary schools
Standards and working conditions Advancing gender equality in and through education Education support personnel, 19 May 2026 written by: Theodora Dede Amanore Worlds of Education newsletter.
They feed thousands. Who cares for them?
Every morning before the first bell rings and the first lesson starts, a group of women are already on the job at Ghana’s schools. They light fires, lift heavy pots, chop vegetables and cook meals for thousands of students across the country. By the time students sit down to eat, these women have already been working for hours in smoke-filled, inadequately ventilated spaces, often without proper personal protective equipment, clean water, or even basic safety infrastructure. These are Ghana’s school kitchen women. They are the invisible backbone of the country’s pre-tertiary education system. They make the Free Senior High School coupled with high enrollment possible. And yet they are among the most ignored, underappreciated, and unprotected workers in the education sector. That invisibility ends now.
A double burden and a gendered crisis in plain sight
All the daily hazards facing kitchen staff at Ghana's pre-tertiary institutions are not abstract. They are physical, immediate, and compounding. Women are largely dominant in these roles, faced with heat from open fires, hot surfaces, and sharp tools that result in burns and cuts. These women breathe smoke every day inside kitchens with little or no access to ventilation and, over years of service, get affected by these exposures. They stand for hours on hard surfaces and lift heavy loads repeatedly under the pressure of feeding hundreds of children within a time schedule. These are all done without the proper ergonomics, appropriate safety equipment, or institutional protection their work demands. Beyond the physical toll, these women do double duty, an additional load that has a hard time getting any policy attention. After long hours cooking and serving food in schools, they return home to unpaid care work such as cooking, childcare, and overseeing their household with almost no time to rest, develop professionally, or recover. Also, these women are faced with limited pathways to promotion, job insecurity, low systemic visibility, and, in some cases, exposure to harassment. This is not just a safety issue on a job. It is a gender justice issue. And it calls for a gender justice response.
A system that harnesses their labour without protecting them
It is imperative to note that Ghana’s pre-tertiary education system cannot run smoothly without the function of the kitchen staff. Thus, without them, learners will stay hungry in the classroom, and the energy that enables students to focus and learn will diminish. The Ghana Education Service conditions recognise that kitchen staff at Ghana’s pre-tertiary level still work in at-risk settings and require health and safety and protective clothing. However, there is a huge gap in policies and initiative towards addressing these challenges.
TEWU's response: Green and safe kitchen campaign
The Teachers and Educational Workers' Union of TUC-Ghana (TEWU) launched a national campaign on green and safe kitchens in all Ghana pre-tertiary institutions. This is a practical and principled campaign. Green kitchens are energy-efficient, environmentally friendly settings with proper ventilation, free from smoke and heat exposure, and pollution to workers and surrounding communities. Importantly, TEWU’s campaign is underpinned by an explicit, gender-responsive framework. It requires fair, humane scheduling which recognises the importance of rest, protection from harassment in the workplace, and equal opportunities for women to be trained and promoted to leadership. TEWU acknowledges that it is not sufficient to simply improve kitchen infrastructure if the structural gendered inequalities in these workplaces are not tackled. TEWU of TUC is calling on the Ghana Education Service, TVET Service, Ministry of Education, governing boards of schools and districts, and regional education offices to act promptly in resolving the issues.
TEWU is also leveraging the Go Public! Fund Education campaign, calling on the Ghanaian government to increase education funding to the benefit of the education support staff.
Towards global responsibility
Ghana cannot tackle the issue on its own. The challenges for kitchen women in Ghana’s schools reflect patterns across low- and middle-income countries where food is prepared for students. Women continue to carry the operational burden of such practices where the occupational safety infrastructure is falling behind. TEWU of TUC urges global education partners, development actors, non-governmental organisations, as well as international labour rights organisations to participate in this initiative by providing advocacy support that promotes modern, ventilated, energy-efficient kitchen infrastructure; capacity development programmes and trainings on occupational health and safety; and documentation and dissemination of best practices from those countries where green school kitchens and women-protective labour policies have successful outcomes. The well-being of kitchen staff needs to be part of the global conversation about school feeding, quality education, and decent work, not a side issue.
Investment not gratitude: A call to action
Kitchen staff in Ghana’s pre-tertiary schools have no need for token accolades. They need safe workplaces and protective tools. They need kitchens built for human dignity, not just minimum function. They need institutional recognition that their labour is skilled, essential, and entitled to equal investment as the rest of the education system. If kitchen staff are protected, learners are well fed and healthier. When women in these roles are truly valued, Ghana's education system will be more equitable and sustainable. The evidence is overwhelming. Investment in kitchen staff equals investment in quality education. TEWU of TUC will not relent until each school kitchen in the country embodies safety, sustainability, and respect for the women who work in them. We ask Education International, its affiliates and the world to stand with us for the women who cook, for the children who eat, and for the future of public education in Ghana.
____________________________
Trade union take on the Progress Declaration of the 2026 International Migration Review Forum
Trade unions around the world welcome the adoption of the 2nd International Migration Review Forum’ Progress Declaration. At a time of rising anti-migrant politics and attacks on multilateralism, its adoption in consensus is an important signal that global governance of migration remains necessary and possible.
The Declaration includes important commitments reflecting priorities consistently raised by trade unions during the Progress Declaration negotiations, such as:
Respect, protect and fulfil the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardless of their migration status (para 5).
Promote fair labour conditions and decent work, and uphold international labour standards for all workers (para 15).
Build and sustain momentum on prohibiting recruiters and employers from charging or shifting recruitment fees or related costs to migrant workers (paras 15 and 43).
Enhance the availability of pathways in a manner that facilitates labour mobility and decent work, including through enhanced skills development and recognition systems, mobility for study and research, humanitarian purposes, family reunification, and regularization (para 43).
Implement measures that facilitate access for migrants in an irregular status to an individual assessment that may lead to regular status, and measures that foster inclusion and reduce the risks associated with irregular status, such as labour exploitation, wage theft and abusive working conditions (para 37).
Increase access to social protection for migrant workers and their families, including through additional ratifications of ILO Convention No. 102 and social protection floors, and portability of applicable social security entitlements and earned benefits through bilateral and multilateral arrangements (para 34 and 55).
Ensure that all migrants regardless of their migration status can exercise their human rights through safe access to basic services, including essential primary health-care and education (para 54).
Prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against migrant women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence, domestic violence, and exploitation, in all contexts of migration, including at borders, in transit, in detention, in workplaces and in private spheres (para 51).
Ensure access to victim and survivor-centred and gender-responsive protection services, including safe reporting mechanisms, legal assistance, required health-care and psychosocial support, and access to justice, regardless of migration status, in full respect of human rights and due process (para 51).
Eliminate all forms of discrimination, including racism, systemic racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, stigmatization, hate speech, hate crimes targeting migrants and diasporas, as well as misinformation and disinformation, negative stereotyping and misleading narratives that generate negative perceptions of migration and migrants (para 57).
While fair labour conditions, decent work, and international labour standards for all workers are included, unfortunately the Political Declaration still fails to make an explicit commitment to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Additionally, significant gaps remain concerning the recognition of social dialogue between governments, trade unions and employer organisations and labour inspection systems as primary labour market institutions ensuring compliance with labour standards. While the reference to wage theft is welcome, a direct commitment on living wages is fundamental for ensuring decent work for migrant workers, as well as access to justice and remedies for labour rights violations both in destination and origin countries. Finally, while the Progress Declaration makes a commitment to enhance availability of pathways that facilitates decent work, humanitarian purposes, family reunification, and regularization, it lacks a recognition of the exploitative nature of employer-tied temporary labour migration schemes and the urgent need to move away from them.
Despite these gaps, trade unions welcome the adoption of the 2nd IMRF Progress Declaration by consensus reaffirming multilateralism as the way to achieve a governance of migration that is rights-based. The adoption of the Progress Declaration is therefore both a win for multilateralism and a reminder of the work ahead: there must be no regression from existing human rights obligations and international labour standards. These provide the foundation for protecting migrants and migrant workers, and for supporting our fight for democracy
It is now time to turn commitments into concrete actions to ensure all migrants can fully exercise their labour rights and have access to decent work. Trade unions will continue to hold governments to account, including by engaging with the follow up to the IMRF and implementation of the Global Compact for Migration.
______________________________
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