Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 4 August 2026 #CosatuCongress2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #Cosatu launches 15th National Congress Countdown… #CosatuCongress2026 #WorkerControl #NationaActionAgainstCostOfLiving Campaign continues… #ClassWar #Cosatu40 #SACTU70 #ClassStruggle “Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism” #Back2Basics #JoinCOSATUNow #ClassConsciousness |
Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin
‘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 August 2026
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- 2026 reporting period will be first year of assessment for all designated employers who submit reports
- South Africa
- Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa urges South Africans to register before election proclamation
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- WFTU condemnation statement against the arrest of Evo Morales
- Argentina: International solidarity with teachers and education support personnel
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
2026
reporting period will be first year of assessment for all designated employers who submit reports
4 August 2026
The 2026 reporting period will be first assessment for all designated employers who submit employment equity plan reports – thus giving employers a base from which to assess progress towards achieving employment equity in an employer's workforce.
Department of Employment and Labour's Employment Equity (EE) Directorate Director, Dr Ntsoaki Mamashela said following the enactment of EE amendments of 2022, which require employers to set five-year targets designated employers must be thorough in development
and implementation of their EE transformation targets.
Dr Mamashela was delivering a presentation on key highlights of the 2026 Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) on issues of transformation in the workplaces. This was during the joint Department of Employment and Labour, CEE, and Commission for Employment
Equity (CEE) advocacy on equity in workplaces held today (4 August 2026) at Coastlands Hotel in uMhlanga, the residential, commercial and resort town north of Durban.
According to the department designated employers (those employing more than fifty employees) are encouraged to apply for their Employment Equity Compliance Certificate immediately after submitting their Employment Equity Report.
However, Dr Mamashela cautioned that it will not be easy to get the certificate. She said the department will be thorough in its assessments of reports. She said there were still employers submitting invalid reports and doing the copy and paste.
According to Section 20 of EE Act designated employers are required to develop an Employment Equity Plan. The EE Amendments of 2022 requires employers to develop their own set targets.
The equity plan provides a template from which to achieve reasonable progress towards employment equity in that employer's workforce. The objectives need to be achieved for each year of the plan. The achievement or compliance to achievement of sector-specific
numerical targets are also tied to access to State contracts.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
082 697 0694/ teboho....@labour.gov.za
-ENDS-
Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
Minister
Velenkosini Hlabisa urges South Africans to register before election proclamation
03
Aug 2026
Minister Hlabisa urges South Africans to register before proclamation of the 2026 Local Government Election date
The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa, has urged all eligible South Africans to register and verify their voter registration details before the proclamation of the 2026 Local Government Elections date
on 7 August 2026.
In terms of Section 159 of the Constitution, read together with the Municipal Structures Act, the Minister of CoGTA is responsible for proclaiming the date of local government elections, which must be held within 90 days after the expiry of a five-year municipal
term.
The proclamation and gazetting of the election date will result in the closure of the voters' roll for the 2026 elections.
The Minister's call follows a successful voter registration weekend held on 1 and 2 August 2026, during which approximately 1.7 million citizens interacted with the Electoral Commission (IEC). Of these, 291 806 registered as first-time voters, while more than
1.5 million voters updated or confirmed their registration details.
Minister Hlabisa welcomed the encouraging turnout, describing it as a clear demonstration of citizens' commitment to strengthening democracy and shaping the future of their communities.
"I urge all eligible South Africans who have not yet registered, or who need to update their details, to do so before the proclamation date. Every registered voter strengthens our democracy and ensures that communities have a voice in local government," said
Minister Hlabisa.
The Minister reminded voters that, in local government elections, citizens may only vote in the ward where they are registered. He encouraged voters to make use of the IEC's Online Voter Registration Portal and voter verification services to confirm their registration
status.
Minister Hlabisa also expressed his appreciation to the Electoral Commission, electoral staff, political parties, community organisations, traditional leaders, and all stakeholders whose contributions ensured the success of the voter registration weekend.
The 2026 Local Government Elections, scheduled for 4 November 2026, will provide South Africans with an important opportunity to shape the future of local governance and strengthen democratic participation at community level.
Media enquiries:
Ms Pearl Maseko-Binqose
Media Liaison Officer to the Minister of CoGTA
Cell: 082 772 1709
Mr Legadima Leso
Head of Communications: CoGTA
Cell: 066 479 9904
Issued by Department of Traditional Affairs
Internationalism-Solidarity
WFTU condemnation statement against the arrest of Evo Morales
4 August 2026
The World Federation of Trade Unions, the militant voice representing more than 105 million workers all over the globe, condemns the issuing of an arrest warrant for the country’s former president, Evo Morales, who is being investigated “for armed uprising” against the state, among other things.
These decisions follow the recent protests that were backed by Morales and took place last June by farmers and truckers against an economic crisis, rising living costs, and the conservative austerity plans of the government.
Morales has been Bolivia’s first Indigenous president and one of the longest‑serving leaders of Latin America, having served the Bolivia for three terms.
The international class‑oriented trade union movement denounces the prosecution of Morales and strongly condemns any measure to silence the people’s demand and struggles against misery and exploitation.
The WFTU joins its voice with the people of Bolivia who are fighting against oppression and deep social and economic inequalities, and fully supports their just demand for the satisfaction of their contemporary needs
__________________________________
Argentina: International solidarity with teachers and education support personnel
4 August 2026
A number of demands and petitions around education brought Argentinean education workers together for a National Teachers' Strike on the 3rd of August, with support
from both Education International Headquarters and the Latin American Regional Committee.
A day of resistance
The strike had a very high level of compliance throughout the country, with massive numbers of education workers participating in different actions and mobilizations in each province.
The teachers demanded the urgent implementation of the National Teachers' Paritaria, a salary increase that would make salaries commensurate with the rising cost of living, the restitution and payment of the FONID, and the transfer of the national funds for
education owed to the provinces by the National Government. In addition, they called for a new Law on Educational Financing, the defense of teacher retirements, and the rejection of the Educational Freedom Bill and the policies that seek to defund public schools
and advance workers' rights.
The centerpiece of the demonstrations was a massive mobilization in front of the Ministry of Economy of the Nation, where teachers firmly demanded new policies that would guarantee the social right to education and respect for workers. The strike and mobilizations
were carried out jointly by the Confederación de Trabajadores de Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA) and the Federación Nacional de Docentes Universitarios (CONADU), both members of Education International (IE). The CONADU Histórica and ATE were also
part of the strike and mobilizations organization.
International solidarity
The strength of the strike and the participation in the streets reflect the deep discomfort that Argentine teachers are experiencing in the face of the adjustment on public education, and the lack of responses from the National Government.
Education International reaffirmed its unwavering support to their national members and education community in Argentina. David Edwards, General Secretary of EI, addressed a support letter to the movement in which he stated that “Education International will
address the International Labour Organization (ILO) on the brutal onslaught against the teaching profession by the government of Javier Milei. The Argentine Government violates ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on freedom of association.” The President added that
dialogue and commitment to public education are required to withstand such a challenging historical moment.
Closer to home, the Education International Latin America Regional’s Committee also issued a support letter in which they state that: “The national teachers' strike of August 3 is protected not only by the Constitution of the Republic of Argentina, but is in
line with the provisions of Conventions 87, 98 and 151 of the International Labor Organization and the pronouncements of its control bodies.”
The Regional Committee also urges the Argentine government and authorities to refrain from applying administrative sanctions, fines or any other retaliatory measures against trade unions and education workers for calling, organizing or participating in the
national teachers' strike on 3 August 2026.
Several Education International member organizations, among them JTU Japan and KTU Iraq, had expressed solidarity with their Argentinean counterparts, with more affiliates expected to join in as Argentina's teachers continue resisting these current government
attacks.
______________________________
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