Taking COSATU Today Forward, 4 June 2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #COSATU set to launch the Cost of Living Campaign this month… #NationaActionAgainstCostOfLiving #ILC2026 #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
4 June 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Joint Statement of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and the South African Democratic Teachers Union Students Chapter (SADTUSC)
- South Africa
- No War on Cuba: South Africa Must Act Now
Statement by the Friends of Cuba Society (Focus) And Partners
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Cuba: ITUC urges international action on acute humanitarian risks following escalating sanctions
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
Joint Statement of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and the South African Democratic Teachers Union Students
Chapter (SADTUSC)
03 June 2026
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) and the South African Democratic Teachers Union Students Chapter (SADTUSC) met at Luthuli House in Johannesburg to chart the path forward in support of the marginalised masses and youth of South Africa against the perpetual neo-liberal capitalist society, which continues to sideline the interests of our people in order to advance capitalist interests in the sphere of education and the broader margins of society.
This meeting issued a clarion call for a united front towards the upcoming local government elections, and the SADTU Students Chapter assured its support to the ANC Youth League in the broader fight against the exclusion of our masses from the economic
benefits of this country. Both organisations agreed to work hand in hand to advance the National Democratic Revolution. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening our relationship through bold and transformative programmes that will empower our youth and challenge the status quo.
Both organisations agreed to confront the unjust practices of the South African Council for Educators (SACE). The ANCYL and the SADTU Students Chapter have long called for the cancellation of subscription payments for unemployed teachers. It is the sin of neoliberalism to force those whom the system has rendered unemployed to pay fees in order to remain recognised as teachers. We strongly reject these actions with the contempt they deserve.
We condemn the coercive subscription fees imposed on unemployed educators, which stifle opportunity and perpetuate inequality. We demand that SACE immediately retract its decision to levy unfair fees on unemployed educators. It is time to hold institutions accountable to the very youth they are meant to serve.
We have noted from the Q1 Stats SA unemployment figures that unemployment in the community and social services sector has increased. A significant portion of this increase is attributable to the discontinuation of temporary teachers, leaving many unemployed.
We call on the Department of Employment and Labour and the Department of Basic Education to re-employ all teachers who were removed from temporary teaching programmes.
We resolved to embark on a vigorous campaign to rally support for the ANC in the
upcoming local government elections. This is a crucial moment for our democracy, and we call on all young people to rise and ensure that their voices are heard at the ballot box.
The future of our country is in our hands, and together we will mobilise a massive turnout that reflects our aspirations for a better South Africa.
We acknowledge with urgency that the crisis of undocumented illegal immigrants must be approached through a holistic and resolute government strategy. This issue poses serious security challenges, and we demand comprehensive measures that ensure the safety and stability of our nation while respecting human dignity.
Moreover, we are prepared to lead the youth in a powerful protest to the Union Buildings, demanding that government urgently address the escalating crisis of youth unemployment. We will not stand by while our future is compromised. The youth of South Africa deserve better, and we will fight for immediate solutions.
We also celebrate the 100,000 job opportunities announced through the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative. This is a crucial step towards combating the staggering unemployment rates that continue to plague our communities. However, we insist that this must form part of a broader and sustained commitment to economic justice and empowerment.
Finally, we acknowledge the urgent need to support COSAS in rebuilding its structures and revitalising the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA). Our collective strength lies in our unity, and we are committed to fostering a powerful and organised movement that will drive our agenda forward.
Issued by:
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL)
Secretary General
Comrade Tsakani Shiviti
The South African Democratic Teachers Union Students Chapter (SADTUSC)
National Coordinator
Xolani Dube
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
No War on Cuba: South Africa Must Act Now
Statement by the Friends of Cuba Society (Focus) And Partners
On 3 June 2026, people across the world mark the Global Day of Action for No War on Cuba. The Friends of Cuba Society (FOCUS) and partners* join the call with urgency and conviction. We do so at a moment of escalating danger for the Cuban people and for the principles of sovereignty, international law and self-determination that South Africa has consistently claimed to defend.
The recent indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro by the United States regime has no legal basis and is a transparent pretext for escalating aggression. This, alongside the intensification of the US’s economic war on Cuba, the tightening of fuel restrictions with the blockade of oil shipments, the unwarranted designation of Cuba as a state sponsoring terrorism, and increasingly open discussions of forced leadership change in Cuba. These are not isolated developments; they form part of a long-standing strategy to bring Cuba to its knees through economic warfare, political coercion and, ultimately, the threat of military intervention.
South Africa cannot remain silent.
Our country has rightly earned international respect for its principled opposition to genocide, collective punishment, occupation and violations of international law. The same commitment that led South Africa to take action at the International Court of Justice in defence of the Palestinian people must guide our response today. Principles are not principles if they are applied selectively. They are tested precisely when powerful states seek to exempt themselves from the rules they demand of others.
The Cuban people have endured more than six decades of blockade, sabotage, terrorism and economic aggression because they chose a sovereign path of development. Today, Cuba faces a severe humanitarian crisis: hospitals struggle with fuel shortages, food systems face enormous strain, and ordinary people carry the burden of policies explicitly designed to create hardship and social catastrophe and collapse. This is collective punishment.
As South Africans, we have a particular responsibility to speak.
Cuba stood with the people of South and Southern Africa when many of the world's most powerful governments stood with apartheid. Cuban internationalists fought and died on African soil. Cuban doctors, teachers and engineers contributed to building a more just world. Cuba's solidarity was given freely, without expectation of repayment. It was the Battle of Cuito Carnavale that delivered a decisive blow to South Africa’s regional dominance, and our former President Nelson Mandela described it as the turning point in the struggle against apartheid.
To remain silent now would be a betrayal of Cuba, and of our own history.
At the same time, we must reject the rising Afrophobia/xenophobia that seeks to divide the poor and working class, and pit our people against one another. South Africans know, or should know, that our liberation was made possible through international solidarity. The attempt to turn ordinary people against migrants, refugees and other nations of the Global South serves only those who benefit from division. Imperial forces have always sought to exploit genuine social and economic hardships by directing popular anger away from systems of exploitation and towards vulnerable communities. We must not allow that strategy to succeed.
FOCUS and our partners, therefore, call on the South African Government to:
• Publicly and unequivocally oppose any military intervention, regime-change operation, or further escalation against Cuba
• Condemn the indictment of Raúl Castro as a political act designed to create a pretext for further aggression
• Raise the situation of Cuba urgently at the United Nations, the African Union, BRICS and all relevant multilateral forums
• Expand diplomatic, cultural, academic and economic cooperation with Cuba as a tangible expression of solidarity
• Work with international partners to challenge the blockade and all measures that restrict Cuba's access to fuel, food, medicine and essential goods
• Mobilise a broad coalition of governments, social movements, trade unions, faith organisations and solidarity networks in defence of Cuban sovereignty.
What is being tested in Cuba and Palestine is whether powerful states can use starvation, sanctions and coercion to overturn the sovereignty of nations that refuse to submit to their demands. If such actions are normalised in Cuba, they will be deployed elsewhere. The principle at stake belongs to all of us.
South Africa must choose whether it will stand with international law, sovereignty and solidarity, or whether it will remain silent while another nation is punished for exercising its right to determine its own future.
The time for statements of concern has passed.
South Africa must act now.
No war on Cuba.
End the blockade.
Defend sovereignty.
Advance international solidarity.
¡Viva Cuba libre! ¡Viva la solidaridad internacional!
*LIST OF ENDORSING PARTNERS, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:
1. Action for Conflict Transformation (ACTION)
2. African Water Commons Collective
3. Ahlul Bait Foundation of South Africa (AFOSA)
4. BLAC - Bishop Lavis Action Community
5. Bonteheuwel Development Forum - BHDF
6. Cinema Solidarity
7. Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu Headquarters Braamfontein)
10. Mothers For Gaza
12. People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)
13. Palestine Solidarity Campaign - South Africa
14. Pan Africanist Congress of Azania
15. Qibla
16. Salt River Heritage Society
18. South African Healthcare Workers For Palestine
19. UCT Alumni for Palestine
20. Women’s Assembly Movement.
The call for progressive organisation and individual endorsement remains open. An updated list of supporters will be released via FOCUS platforms on the first of each month. Organisations and individuals can add their support here: https://forms.gle/YPKX6TNosrw8FFtU6
International-Solidarity
Cuba: ITUC urges international action on acute humanitarian risks following escalating sanctions
2 June 2026
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) calls for international action to address the multiplying humanitarian risks in Cuba following intensified US sanctions, including a fuel blockade.
At a time when working people in Cuba are already facing severe shortages of energy, food, medicines and essential goods, further sanctions and restrictions risk triggering another humanitarian crisis. Cuba relies on oil for 90 per cent of its energy, with reserves at critically low levels.
According to UN OCHA and the WHO, the energy blockade is creating a serious humanitarian crisis, particularly in the health system:
Blackouts lasting up to 20 hours have forced hospitals to suspend non-emergency operations.
Fuel shortages are limiting ambulance services and delaying access to critical care.
More than 100,000 patients, including 11,000 children, are waiting for surgeries delayed by power outages and supply shortages.
Neonatal mortality has doubled due to the lack of a stable electricity supply to power lifesaving equipment.
Care cannot be guaranteed for nearly five million people with chronic diseases, including 16,000 radiotherapy and 12,000 chemotherapy patients.
On 1 May, the Trump administration expanded extraterritorial sanctions targeting individuals, companies and organisations engaged in trade or cooperation with Cuba, in particular in the energy, mining, defence and security sectors.
These actions intensify more than six decades of economic sanctions.
"Civilians and workers should never pay the price for geopolitical conflicts and unilateral political decisions. The tightening of sanctions against Cuba has a direct and negative impact on working people, undermining access to basic goods and services, and increasing social suffering."ITUC General Secretary Luc Triangle
"The situation is unbearable. The Cuban people have the right to live and work in dignity, free from measures that damage their economic and social well-being. The future of Cuba must be determined freely by the Cuban people, with full respect of their fundamental rights. We demand dialogue, international solidarity and respect for international law to protect peace, workers’ rights and social justice in the region.
"We cannot risk a further humanitarian catastrophe. People in need cannot wait for life-saving aid. Urgent and coordinated efforts are needed now to stop conditions from worsening.
"We call on governments to reject actions that further escalate tensions and to support international cooperation aimed at guaranteeing access to energy, healthcare, food and essential services for the Cuban population.”
______________________________
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