Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 30 April 2026 #CosatuMayDay2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #COSATU declares its readiness to deliver 12 #InternationalWorkersDay rallies on May 1 #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
30 April 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Media Alert: COSATU KZN May Day Celebration 2026
- POPCRU on the outcome of the Labour Court on section 197 against DCS on Mangaung G4S
- South Africa
- NEHAWU Statement on International Workers’ Day
- DENOSA statement for Workers Day
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- ILO acts on climate risks to worker safety
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics #ClassWar
Media Alert: COSATU KZN May Day Celebration 2026
Edwin Mkhize, COSATU KwaZulu Natal Provincial Secretary, 30 April 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in KwaZulu-Natal is fully prepared to host a successful 2026 May Day Celebration Rally at Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban.
COSATU reiterates that May Day must never be reduced to a ceremonial event. It is a militant political platform to deepen and advance working-class struggles.
This year’s May Day takes place under difficult global and domestic conditions—marked by escalating global conflicts that are driving fuel and food price increases, a deepening cost-of-living crisis, persistent worker exploitation in several sectors, and a worsening unemployment crisis, particularly affecting the youth.
In this context, COSATU has intensified its programme of action. This has included workplace visits, Shop Stewards’ Councils, and picket demonstrations across various workplaces. Notably, workers led a successful picket against the unfair tax regime imposed by the South African Revenue Service.
The federation has also played a central role in the convening of the long-demanded Job Summit. Further campaigns will be rolled out throughout Workers’ Month in May.
The May Day Rally will be addressed by:
COSATU General Secretary-Solly Phetoe
ANC First Deputy Secretary-General-Nomvula Mokonyane
SACP Central Committee Member-Phumzile Manguzi
SANCO President-Richard Hlophe
Workers across the province are highly mobilised and are looking forward to marking this important day in the international working-class calendar.
COSATU calls on all workers to attend the rally in their maximum numbers and to use May Day as a platform to unite, organise, and intensify the struggle for economic justice and social transformation.
Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the event. Accreditation can be collected at COSATU offices the day before or on the morning of the event.
Issued by COSATU KwaZulu Natal
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POPCRU on the outcome of the Labour Court on section 197 against DCS on Mangaung G4S
Richard Mamabolo, POPCRU National Spokesperson, 30 April 2026
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) notes, welcomes, and emphatically celebrates the landmark judgement handed down by the Labour Court on 30 April 2026—just a day before the historic commemoration of May Day, International Workers’ Day. This is not a coincidence of timing; it is a powerful and symbolic reaffirmation that the struggle of workers, when organised and resolute, yields victory.
The Court has decisively ruled that the termination of the concession contract relating to the Mangaung Correctional Centre, and the subsequent assumption of control by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), constitutes a transfer in terms of section 197 of the Labour Relations Act. This means, in clear and unambiguous terms, that all workers employed under G4S will automatically transfer to the Department of Correctional Services, with their jobs protected.
This judgement strikes at the very heart of what POPCRU has consistently warned against: the reckless commodification of correctional services and the outsourcing of a core constitutional function to private profit-driven entities. For years, we have raised the alarm that the privatisation of prisons undermines accountability, weakens labour protections, and places profit before rehabilitation and public safety. Today, the Court has affirmed, in substance, that the State cannot abdicate its responsibility, nor can workers be treated as disposable casualties in contractual transitions.
Let it be stated without hesitation: this is a victory for POPCRU. It is a victory forged through relentless struggle, through principled opposition to job losses, and through our unwavering commitment to defend the dignity of workers in the criminal justice system. At every stage, POPCRU has maintained that any transition must protect workers, must respect labour laws, and must place the public interest above corporate interests. The Court has now vindicated this position.
The ruling further confirms that the employees of G4S will not be thrown into the cold uncertainty of unemployment, but will instead be absorbed into the DCS. This is a decisive rejection of any attempt to retrench workers under the guise of contractual changes. It is a reminder that workers are not commodities to be discarded when profit margins shift—they are human beings whose livelihoods must be protected.
POPCRU has long called for the full insourcing of privately run correctional facilities, and this judgement strengthens our call: the Department of Correctional Services must take over all private prisons in South Africa. The Mangaung development must not be treated as an isolated incident, but as a policy direction—a necessary correction in the governance of correctional services. The State must reclaim its mandate fully, decisively, and without hesitation.
We therefore issue a firm and unequivocal call to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and the National Commissioner of Correctional Services: do not challenge this judgement. Any attempt to appeal or delay its implementation will be viewed as an attack on workers, an attack on labour rights, and an attempt to reverse a hard-won victory. The path forward is clear—implement the judgement in full, ensure a smooth transition of workers, and begin the process of systematically ending the privatisation of prisons.
This judgement comes at a critical moment, on the eve of May Day—a day that reminds us of the sacrifices made by workers across generations. It is a fitting tribute to those struggles that today, workers at Mangaung can look to the future with certainty rather than fear. It is proof that when workers stand united, when unions remain vigilant, and when the struggle is sustained, victory is not only possible—it is inevitable.
POPCRU will continue to monitor the implementation of this judgement closely. We will not hesitate to act should there be any attempt to undermine the rights of workers during the transition process. Our position remains firm: no job losses, no erosion of conditions of service, and no compromise on the dignity of workers.
This is more than a legal victory—it is a political and ideological breakthrough. It reaffirms the principle that public services must serve the people, not profit. It strengthens the hand of those who fight for a just, equitable, and worker-centred society.
As we enter May Day, we do so with renewed energy, with strengthened resolve, and with the clear understanding that the struggle continues—but today, we celebrate a victory.
Aluta continua!
Issued by POPCRU
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
NEHAWU Statement on International Workers’ Day
Zola Saphetha, NEHAWU General Secretary, April 30, 2026
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] conveys its militant salute to workers across the World on the occasion of International Workers’ Day.
As NEHAWU, we join our militant, class-orientated international federation of trade unions, the World Federation of Trade Unions [WFTU] and its sectoral Trade Union International of Public Service and Allied [TUI-PS&A] in saluting all workers who continue to wage a relentless struggle against the barbaric and exploitative system of capitalism.
This year marks the 140th anniversary of International Workers’ Day, embodying the struggles, sacrifices and victories of workers against capitalist exploitation, oppression and imperialist domination. We honour the heroic struggles of workers who fought for the eight-hour working day, decent wages, safe working conditions and the right to organise.
The occasion of International Workers’ Day serves as a platform for workers to reaffirm their unwavering commitment to working-class internationalism, and as such workers across the world must unite, intensify class struggles for the fulfilment of their contemporary needs and that of the broader working-class.
We are celebrating International Worker’s Day against the background of a deepening crisis of capitalism which has resulted in global crisis of unemployment, high levels of inequality, and extreme poverty. Workers and the working class have had to endure the miseries, pains and suffocation brought about by this barbaric and inhumane system of capitalism. Hence, we join the WFTU clarion call: Our lives and our need is or their profits! No sacrifices for the wars and profits of the capital. Work with rights, regulated by collective agreements, fulfilment of the contemporary needs of workers.
We mark this day amid heightened geopolitical tensions and imperialist aggression. The unfolding war in the Middle East, the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, and the continued illegal economic blockade against Cuba are clear manifestations of imperialism’s brutal quest for domination and control. These developments further expose the violent and exploitative nature of global capitalism, which thrives on conflict, oppression, and the subjugation of nations.
There is absolutely no doubt about the inability of capitalism to respond to the crises it perpetually creates. The failure of the global capitalist system has caused unprecedented destruction to the livelihoods of millions of the working class, with extreme poverty, inequality, unemployment and misery.
Capitalism has deepened inequality, eroded democratic and trade union rights, intensified militarisation across the world, and subjected workers and our class to worsening living and working conditions. Hence, the class-oriented trade union movement must intensify the struggles of the working class against capitalist exploitation, inequality, and imperialist domination and wars.
In our domestic context, workers have not been spared from the brutality of global capitalism, this is reflected in the deepening socio-economic crisis characterised by mass unemployment, rising cost of living, austerity measures, wage suppression, and the erosion of collective bargaining.
Our message for this year’s International Workers Day is along the class-oriented militant line of WFTU that our lives and our needs cannot be subordinated to capitalist profit. The working class must reject any sacrifices demanded in the name of imperialist wars and the accumulation of capital. There must be respect for trade union rights and collective bargaining and collective agreements.
Lastly, we reiterate that International Working-Class Solidarity remains the most powerful instrument in the hands of workers in the struggle against exploitation, inequality and capitalist oppression.
Our lives and our needs or their profits!
No sacrifices for the wars and profits of the capital
Work with rights, regulated by collective agreements
Fulfillment of the contemporary needs of the workers
Viva International Workers’ Day!!
Forward to International Working-Class Solidarity!!
END
Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat.
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DENOSA statement for Workers Day
Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA National Spokesperson, 30 April 2026
PRETORIA* – As tomorrow, 1 May 2026, will mark International Workers Day, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) would like to encourage its members to join the COSATU May Day commemorations throughout the country as a way to express their feelings about the current conditions they work under in various hospitals and clinics, which are highly characterised by overcrowding, poor support, poor pay and shrinking opportunities for continuous professional development.
DENOSA’s call for Decent Work at the commemorations will include agitating for improvement in the conditions of work in healthcare facilities through the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) as a form of bringing Universal Health Coverage to South Africans, which will be quality healthcare service.
The nurses will also express their unhappiness over the regressive Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS), whose ridiculous 9.5 percent increase in February 2026 has taken from the workers’ disposable income and deprived the millions of public servants of the necessary healthcare benefits that they have paid for.
COSATU, the federation that DENOSA is an affiliate of, will be hosting various events throughout the country, where leaders of DENOSA both nationally and provincially have been deployed to address the workers.
On the healthcare front, where DENOSA is organising workers, there are plenty of challenges that the workers are confronted with.
These include:
- High vacancy rates and non-absorption of nurses who have recently qualified; overcrowding in facilities;
- Ever shrinking opportunities for continuous professional development for nurses, mainly because of the shortage of staff and overcrowding in the wards in hospitals and clinics;
- Poor pay as many healthcare workers double, and even triple, their work input due to the severe shortage of staff in facilities, while others are still paid for their previous skills level while they have long acquired new skills; and
- Continued undermining of the collective bargaining agreements by the public sector employer.
The COSATU May Day rallies will be held as follows (all will commence at 10h00):*
*Limpopo National Rally:* Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane.
*Western Cape:* Mbekweni Sports Stadium, Paarl.
*Free State:* Bultfontein Stadium, Bultfontein.
*Eastern Cape:* Nangoza Jebe Hall, New Brighton, Gqeberha.
BCM City Hall, kuGompo.
Tobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre, Komani.
Lusikisiki College Great Hall.
*Gauteng:* Tsakane Stadium, Brakpan
*KwaZulu-Natal:* Curries Fountain Stadium, Durban
*Mpumalanga:* Kamagugu Stadium, Mbombela
*Northern Cape:* Galeshewe Open Air Arena, Kimberley
*North West:* Olympia Stadium, Rustenburg
End.
Issued by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA).
For more information, contact:
Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA National Spokesperson.
Mobile: 060 602 8395
International-Solidarity
ILO acts on climate risks to worker safety
30 April, 2026
The ILO meeting of experts on occupational safety and health in extreme weather events and changing weather patterns, held in Geneva from 20 to 24 April 2026, concluded with the adoption of conclusions that strengthen the protection of workers against climate-related risks that are becoming increasingly frequent and severe.
IndustriALL took part in this meeting as part of the Global Union Federations (GUFs), serving as advisors to the workers’ group and contributing actively to the debates and to the negotiation of the final text. The worker delegation was led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Additionally, the discussions highlighted occupational safety and health climate risks and their relevance for worker protection.
IndustriALL at the table
During the meeting, the workers’ group defended a broad approach: not only responding to specific extreme weather events, but also recognizing that changing weather patterns create cumulative risks for occupational safety and health. That approach is reflected in the conclusions that were adopted, and it directly addresses ongoing climate risks in health and safety at work.
Strengthening the text: key gains for workers
The amendments put forward by the workers helped strengthen the initial draft in several key areas. The final text gives greater weight to freedom of association, social dialogue and collective bargaining, confirms that OSH protection must apply to all workers, including vulnerable workers and regardless of their employment status and improves the language on exposure thresholds, labour inspection, income protection when work must be stopped, health surveillance and safe return to work after extreme weather events. It also includes issues such as gender perspective, social protection and the need for resilient public infrastructure. With these improvements, occupational safety and health climate risks are more thoroughly addressed for every worker.
At workplace level, the conclusions are clearer on the importance of risk assessments, access to safe drinking water and adequate
facilities, the provision of personal protective equipment at no cost and specific measures for workers facing higher risks.
They also make progress on two issues that are particularly important for IndustriALL. The first is the need to define clear responsibilities when more than one company operates at the same workplace. This means that the adopted text also covers contract and
subcontract workers, as well as value chains, which is highly relevant in industrial sectors where subcontracting is widespread. Furthermore, addressing occupational safety and health climate risks is crucial in these complex environments.
Climate risks inside plants, mines and industrial facilities
The second important point for us was that the text should better reflect the reality of industrial sectors. In energy, mining and manufacturing industries, climate-related risks do not affect only those working outdoors. They also affect workers inside plants and industrial facilities, through accumulated heat, smoke, poor air quality, operational disruptions, emergency work and the increased risk of major industrial accidents when an extreme event affects critical infrastructure or hazardous processes. The fact that the conclusions advance prevention, preparedness, response and recovery in these contexts is an important outcome. Clearly, occupational safety and health must take into account climate risks in these sectors.
Diana Junquera, director of industrial policy, said:
“For IndustriALL, it was essential that this debate reflected the reality of our sectors and of the workers we represent. Climate does not only affect outdoor work: it also changes conditions inside plants, mines and industrial facilities. The adoption of conclusions
that strengthen prevention, rights, social dialogue and protection for all workers is a very important step.”
Next steps
The conclusions adopted provide a useful basis for further progress towards stronger national policies and concrete measures in workplaces. IndustriALL will continue working to ensure that these principles are turned into real protection for workers across all our sectors, especially addressing occupational safety and health climate risks as part of our ongoing advocacy.
______________________________
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