Taking COSATU Today Forward, 17 July 2026 #CosatuRedFridays
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 Today, it’s #CosatuRedFridays… #NationaActionAgainstCostOfLiving Campaign continues… #MandelaDay2026 #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
17 July 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- SASBO Condemns African Bank’s premature Section 189A announcement and rejects attempts to shift the cost of governance failures onto workers!
- South Africa-#ClassSolidarity!
- COSATU angry about non-payment of Pension Fund Contributions
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- Five areas where intersectionality changes union work
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
SASBO Condemns African Bank’s premature Section 189A announcement and rejects attempts to shift the cost of governance failures onto workers!
Rosemary Rauleka, SASBO General Secretary, 16 July 2026
SASBO notes with serious concern the recent media reports, including the publication of a News24 article, regarding African Bank’s contemplated Section 189A process and the potential impact on approximately 1,200 employees.
At the outset, SASBO wishes to place on record its strong objection to the premature publication of information relating to a matter that has not yet been meaningfully consulted upon with the recognised trade union. It is deeply disappointing that details of such a significant proposal found their way into the public domain before adequate engagement had taken place with the representatives of the employees whose livelihoods are at stake.
This morning, SASBO was scheduled to engage with African Bank management following the bank’s recently announced financial results, which reflected a loss of R624 million. The meeting had originally been scheduled two weeks ago but was postponed due to the unavailability of certain executives and was subsequently rescheduled for 08:00 this morning.
To SASBO’s astonishment, the very first slide of the bank’s presentation referred to a contemplated Section 189A consultation process. As the recognised union and representative of employees, SASBO immediately challenged management on why no prior engagement had taken place and why the union had not been afforded the basic courtesy of being informed before such a far-reaching proposal was presented. Despite our serious reservations regarding the manner in which the matter was introduced, SASBO remained in the meeting and listened to the bank’s presentation. Management indicated that it is contemplating embarking on a Section 189A process aimed at preserving capital and liquidity, restoring profitability, optimising approximately 90 branches, and redesigning its operating model. African Bank’s proposal could impact approximately 1,200 employees.
The bank further indicated that these measures are linked, among other things, to the need to strengthen governance and decision-making protocols in response to concerns raised by regulatory authorities. At this stage, management has described the proposal as being at a consultation stage only. SASBO and African Bank have agreed to meet again in the new week to commence formal engagements.
SASBO’s Position
SASBO views the manner in which this process has unfolded as unacceptable. Retrenchments are not merely a business exercise; they have profound consequences for workers, their families, and the communities that depend on their income. Any employer contemplating a process of this magnitude has a duty to engage openly, transparently, and respectfully with organised labour before information is released publicly.
SASBO does not support the premature publication of information concerning potential job losses when meaningful consultation and engagement have not yet taken place. Such actions create unnecessary anxiety, uncertainty, and distress among employees and undermine the very principles of consultation that are intended to guide a Section 189A process.
Furthermore, SASBO does not take kindly to any attempt by African Bank to repair the damage arising from its own financial, operational, and governance shortcomings by placing the burden on employees. Workers cannot be expected to carry the consequences of failures in internal governance, decision-making, strategy, or regulatory compliance. The employees who now face uncertainty did not create the circumstances that led to the bank's current position, and they should not be treated as the solution to challenges that originate as a result of negligence by executives. SASBO will therefore approach the upcoming consultations with determination and vigilance. We will rigorously interrogate the rationale behind the proposed restructuring, demand full disclosure of all relevant information, challenge the necessity of any proposed job losses, and insist that all reasonable alternatives to retrenchment are thoroughly explored before any consideration is given to dismissals.
Our priority remains the protection of jobs, the defence of members' rights, and the preservation of the dignity and livelihoods of the workers who have contributed to the success and sustainability of African Bank over many years. African Bank must understand that SASBO will not support any process that seeks to make employees pay for management failures. The bank must first demonstrate that every possible alternative has been exhausted and that accountability for its current challenges is not unfairly shifted onto the shoulders of hardworking employees.
SASBO remains resolute: workers must not become the casualties of corporate governance failures and strategic missteps for which they bear no responsibility.
Issued by the General Secretary of Sasbo
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26th Commission for Employment Equity Report (CEE) Annual Report 2025/26
https://www.labour.gov.za/.../2026/26th%20CEE%20Report.pdf
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU angry about non-payment of Pension Fund Contributions
Zanele Sabela, COSATU Spokesperson, 16 July 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is deeply angered that despite efforts to raise awareness of the perils of not transferring workers’ pension fund contributions to the relevant funds, the number of defaulting employers continues to escalate.
The latest Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) report indicates that the number of defaulting employers rose to 16 556 by end of February from the 15 521 previously reported in September 2025.
Total arrears have increased by R1.04 billion to R8.33 billion, putting the financial futures of about 590 000 workers at risk. Worryingly, late payment interest now accounts for 43.5% of total arrears, meaning outstanding contributions remain unpaid for longer periods, accumulating interest as a result.
Despite recoveries reaching R1.01 billion since the FSCA’s first report in June 2022, total arrears are still far too high and risk plunging more than half a million workers into poverty retirement. More than an injustice, this is a crime against workers whose sweat of the brow is being toyed with by these unscrupulous employers.
Appallingly, counted among the unscrupulous employers are municipalities, who deducted R1.7 billion from municipal workers' salaries as at end of February 2026, but never transferred the monies to pension funds. Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, said this was one of the main reasons National Treasury withheld funding to 69 municipalities.
Immediate payment of pension fund contributions and other third-party payments was among the foremost demands listed in the memorandum members of COSATU affiliate, South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), delivered to National Treasury offices in Pretoria last Thursday.
Municipal workers have borne the brunt of maladministration and are often not even paid their salary for months on end, in addition to contending with arrear pension fund contributions.
When pension fund contributions are in arrears, workers’ death and disability benefits become void with devastating consequences for the workers and their families, particularly those who work under dangerous conditions. Moreover, withholding contributions robs workers of the compounding effect of interest that would ultimately ensure they are not poverty-stricken when they are old and can no longer work.
Defaulting employers are in contravention of Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, which stipulates employers must pay over pension fund contributions in full to the fund within seven days after the end of the month. Those not complying are breaking the law and if prosecuted, will be liable for a fine and can even be jailed. They are thieves, plain and simple.
COSATU appreciates tentative progress reported by the FSCA on contribution payments following National Treasury’s withholding of equitable share allocations to municipalities prior to this latest round. In addition, starting in January this year, labour inspectors have been authorised to enforce compliance regarding payment of pension fund contributions.
This crisis will, however, not end until delinquent employers are charged and prosecuted for the theft, fraud and corruption that this mass looting is. COSATU will engage unions of affected workers to begin laying charges with the police.
The Federation and its affiliates will intensify measures to report defaulting employers to ensure that all outstanding contributions, including interest are paid.
Issued by COSATU
International-Solidarity
Five areas where intersectionality changes union work
16 July, 2026
Every union wants to represent all workers. But workers do not all experience work in the same way. A young migrant woman on a temporary contract may
face different barriers from an older permanent worker approaching retirement. If unions negotiate, organize and campaign as though every worker experiences work the same way, some members will always be left behind.
This is where intersectionality becomes practical. It is not an abstract theory but a way of working. It asks unions to look at who their members actually are, identify where different forms of discrimination and disadvantage overlap and adapt their strategies
accordingly.
At the 4th IndustriALL Congress in Sydney in November 2025, affiliates unanimously adopted a feminist resolution calling for intersectional policies where gaps exist. Following Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary’s recent opinion to on the topic, the next
question is practical: what does this look like in day-to-day union work?
Intersectionality in one sentence
An intersectional approach asks one practical question: who is being left behind and what can the union do differently to include them?
Here are five areas where an intersectional approach makes unions stronger.
1. Collective bargaining
Most bargaining teams now address the gender pay gap. An intersectional approach asks one further question: which women are furthest behind and why?
The answer is rarely uniform. It may be migrant women in outsourced roles, women on short-term contracts excluded from bonuses, or older women passed over for training that leads to promotion. For example, a collective agreement may secure equal base pay while
subcontracted migrant workers remain excluded from bonuses, promotion opportunities or skills training. A pay equity clause that misses them looks good on paper but leaves the widest gaps open.
The benefit: bargaining that reaches the workers most at risk of being left behind strengthens the whole agreement. When members see that collective bargaining delivers for their own reality, confidence in the union grows and so does collective strength.
2. Organizing
Every union knows where its density is weakest. Intersectionality asks why those workers are not joining and treats the answer as an organizing problem, not a membership problem.
Meetings scheduled when shift-working mothers cannot attend. Materials produced only in the majority language. Recruiters who all look the same. Each is a barrier the union controls and can remove.
The benefit: stronger organizing in exactly the parts of the workforce where unions have the greatest opportunity to grow. IndustriALL’s Action Plan 2025–2029 commits affiliates to strategies that engage and organize young workers, women, white-collar workers
and workers in precarious employment. An intersectional approach helps turn that commitment into practical organizing.
3. Education and training
A shop steward is only as effective as their ability to recognize what a member is facing. A grievance may look like a performance dispute and actually be harassment compounded by a worker’s migration status or contract type.
Intersectional union education trains stewards to see the full picture. It also examines access to the training itself: who can attend, in which language, at what time and at what cost.
The benefit: stewards who are better equipped to resolve members’ problems and education programmes that develop the union’s next generation of leaders from the full diversity of its membership.
4. Industrial policy and Just Transition
Industrial change never affects every worker equally. The transition to a greener, more automated industry is not gender neutral and it is not neutral on age, contract type or migration status either. When a plant closes or retools, the workers least likely
to be retrained and redeployed are those in precarious contracts, those with care responsibilities that rule out relocation and those already at the margins of the workforce.
The Action Plan is explicit: a gender-neutral strategy towards technological change and the green transition will set gender equality back. Intersectional industrial policy means asking, in every transition negotiation, who gets the new jobs, who gets the retraining
and who is quietly left out.
The benefit: a Just Transition that is genuinely just. By identifying who risks being excluded before decisions are made, unions are better placed to defend every worker affected by restructuring, not only the most visible ones.
5. Union structures and leadership
The feminist resolution calls for a change in power relations, structures and cultures within unions themselves, not just in their demands on employers.
In practice: collect data on who holds positions at every level of the union. Give women’s structures and youth structures real mandates, not advisory roles. Look at meeting times, travel requirements and unwritten expectations that filter out everyone whose
life does not fit the traditional mould of a union officer.
The benefit: leadership that reflects the workforce the union wants to organize and represent. Workers are more likely to participate in organizations where they can see themselves and believe their voices will be heard.
The objections worth answering
“We don’t have the resources to cater to everyone”
This is the objection union leaders raise most often and it deserves a straight answer. A union may have policies that serve the large majority of members well and the rest only partly and no budget for special programmes on top.
The first answer is that intersectionality is not a set of special programmes. It is one extra question asked in the work the union already does. The bargaining round is happening anyway: before the demands are finalized, ask who the package misses. The steward
training is running anyway: check whether it is only accessible to workers who are free at certain times and speak the majority language. Asking these questions costs nothing. Separate programmes for every group is precisely the model this approach replaces.
The second answer is that the partly-protected minority is not a separate problem from the well-protected majority. Consider a factory with 450 permanent workers on a strong agreement and 50 subcontracted cleaners and warehouse staff with little or no protection.
No employer attacks the 450 head-on. That is a war with a strong union. Instead, a little more is outsourced each year, the cleaning, then the logistics, then part of production, until a cheaper workforce is doing comparable work alongside union members. From
then on, every negotiation starts with a threat to move more work out the door. Retiring members are not replaced. New hires come in on worse terms.
The 450 never lose a battle. Their protection is hollowed out from the side and the 50 unprotected workers are the opening that makes it possible.
Reaching the workers at the margins is therefore not charity from the majority. It is the majority removing the employer’s cheaper alternative. The resources argument has it backwards: what a union cannot afford is to leave the opening there.
“We don’t have the resources to cater to everyone”
Some worry that trying to represent everyone means representing no one. It is an old argument and it mistakes complexity for division.
A union that only fully represents some of its members has already made a choice about who matters. That choice is felt by the members at the margins and exploited by the employers who put them there. Divide and rule is not a union strategy. It is a management
one.
Intersectionality does not create divisions, it helps unions remove the barriers that divide workers in the first place. When unions understand the different experiences of their members, they are better equipped to build solidarity across gender, race, age,
migration status, disability and employment status. Stronger solidarity leads to stronger bargaining, stronger organizing and stronger unions.
Intersectionality does not ask unions to represent everyone at the expense of anyone. It asks unions to be strong enough to represent everyone at once. That is not a dilution of purpose. That is the purpose.
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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