Taking COSATU Today Forward, 6 March 2026 #IWD2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 March 8 is International Women’s Day… #EqualPay #GenderEquality #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
6 March 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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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
- Government on sentencing of former MP Vincent Smith
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- 8 MARCH – INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY – WFTU women against imperialist war, war economy and exploitation
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, 03 March 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
Papikie Mohale
National Media Officer
076 795 8670
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
Government on sentencing of former MP Vincent Smith
05 Mar 2026
Government welcomes the Johannesburg High Court’s sentencing of former Member of Parliament Vincent Smith to seven years’ imprisonment on charges that include fraud and corruption linked to receiving kickbacks from facilities management company Bosasa. Smith pleaded guilty to charges including contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 and the Income Tax Act.
This sentencing follows recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, which investigated widespread corruption and fraud. The Commission played a critical role in uncovering wrongdoing and recommending institutional reforms to strengthen accountability and rebuild public trust.
Smith’s sentencing also reflects government’s commitment, as articulated by President Cyril Ramaphosa in the 2026 State of the Nation Address, to intensify the fight against corruption and ensure that those who abuse public resources are held accountable.
Implementing the recommendations of the Zondo Commission, and other commissions of inquiry, is a key part of strengthening democratic institutions and restoring integrity in government. Government places ethical governance and the rule of law at the centre of building a capable and developmental state. Commissions of inquiry are therefore vital instruments to enable government to expose wrongdoing, recommend reforms and ensure that justice is ultimately served.
Government reiterates that no one is above the law and that the country’s democratic institutions remain resolute in the fight against corruption. The implementation of the recommendations of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, together with the commitments outlined in the 2026 State of the Nation Address demonstrates government’s determination to strengthen accountability, rebuild public trust and ensure that public resources are used to advance the development and well-being of all South Africans.
Media
Enquiries:
Ms
Nomonde Mnukwa, Acting Government Spokesperson
Cell: 083 653 7485
Mr
William Baloyi, Deputy Government Spokesperson
Cell: 083 390 7147
Issued by Government Communications
International-Solidarity
by WFTU HQ, 5 March 2026
8 March is not a celebration, but a day of struggle. The World Federation of Trade Unions stands alongside working women around the world who resist capitalist exploitation, patriarchal oppression and the violence of imperialism.
Today, imperialism shows its most ferocious face through wars, occupations, economic sanctions and the plundering of peoples. The WFTU denounces the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, which brutally affects women and children, and the continuing imperialist aggression against Venezuela, consisting of criminal sanctions, blackmail and attempts at destabilisation. Wars and sanctions are instruments of domination that destroy entire societies and affect working-class women first and foremost.
The numbers expose this system of death and exploitation:
women represent over 70% of the world’s poor; they earn on average about 20% less than men and are concentrated in the most precarious and least protected sectors. More than 60% of unpaid work, which is essential for social reproduction, falls on women, guaranteeing huge profits for capital and savings for states.
The war economy enriches the arms industry and large monopolies, while millions of women are pushed into poverty, unemployment and precariousness. Military spending is increasing everywhere, while public health, education, welfare and labour rights are being dismantled.
In contexts of war and occupation, women and children constitute the majority of civilian victims: bombing, forced displacement, hunger and lack of care affect women in particular. In Palestine, thousands of women have been killed, injured or deprived of access to essential care. Economic sanctions, such as those imposed on Venezuela, directly affect working women, reducing access to food, medicine, healthcare and social rights.
Working-class women suffer double and triple exploitation: starvation wages, precarious work, imposed care burdens, systemic discrimination and increasing violence. Capitalism and patriarchy are two sides of the same system.
The WFTU states clearly:
without an end to imperialist wars, without a break with the war economy and without social justice, there can be no real gender equality.
On this 8 March, the World Federation of Trade Unions calls on working-class women and men to:
· strengthen the struggle against imperialism and its wars
· oppose sanctions, occupations and capitalist exploitation
· defend jobs, wages, rights and public services
· build internationalist solidarity among peoples
· fight for a world free from exploitation, oppression and violence
8 March: WFTU women against imperialist war, the war economy and exploitation.
Without peace and social justice, there can be no gender equality.
World Federation of Trade Unions
______________________________
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