Taking COSATU Today Forward Special Bulletin, 5 May 2026

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Norman Mampane

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May 5, 2026, 11:16:53 AM (16 hours ago) May 5
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COSATU TODAY

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#COSATU at #NHI ConCourt to support defence of the universal healthcare system in SA

#ClassSolidarity#ClassWar

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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

 

A group of people outside a building

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Our side of the story

5 May 2026


“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”

Organize at every workplace and demand respect for labour rights Now!

Defend Jobs Now!

Join COSATU NOW!

 

Contents                      

  • Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
  • NUM condemns Impala Triple M for undermining Organisational Rights and the Rule of Law

Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics  

NUM condemns Impala Triple M for undermining Organisational Rights and the Rule of Law

William Shiko, NUM Rustenburg Region Deputy Secretary, 05 May 2026

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) strongly condemns the ongoing refusal by Impala Triple M to recognize and implement the unions legally earned organisational rights. NUM maintains that rights acquired under the Labour Relations Act (LRA) are non-negotiable mandates for compliance, not subjects for employer manipulation.

On 27 February 2026, a CCMA verification report confirmed that NUM exceeded the required 40% membership threshold at Impala Triple M. Despite this legal certification, the employer continues to shift goalposts and obstruct the unions access to its members.

The NUM is deeply concerned by the following developments:

CCMAs Regulatory Failure: Under Section 150 of the LRA, the CCMA is tasked with resolving disputes through the rule of law. Instead, the Commission has improperly encouraged "negotiations" over rights that are already legally due, effectively emboldening employer non-compliance. The CCMA must enforce compliance of the law and not persuade parties to negotiate.

Employer Collusion: During todays urgent interdict proceedings at the Johannesburg Labour Court, the conduct of Impala Triple M suggests they are actively defending the interests of a rival union, despite that union not being a party to these court proceedings.

The Fight for Freedom of Association: In this Freedom Month, workers at Impala Triple M are not striking for wages, but for the fundamental right to choose their own representation without employer interference.

NUMs Formal Position:

Immediate Implementation: Organisational rights must be activated immediately in accordance with the LRA and the existing CCMA verification.

Statutory Accountability: The CCMA must fulfill its duty to enforce compliance rather than facilitating unlawful delays.

Escalation of Action: The strike action will continue and intensify from tomorrow. NUM remains resolute; we will not retreat until the constitutional rights of our members are fully realized. NUM President comrade Phillip Vilakazi will also address the workers tomorrow in Rustenburg.

The NUM rejects any narrative suggesting that certified membership thresholds are open to renegotiation. The law has spoken, and the time for compliance is now.

South Africa #ClassSolidarity

NEHAWU deplores the Constitutional Court CASES lodged against the state and calls for a broad progressive front to defend the National Health Insurance Act

Zola Saphetha, NEHAWU General Secretary, May 05, 2026

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union [NEHAWU] denounces attempts by a coalition of big capital and right wing elements to thwart and delay the full implementation of the National Health Insurance [NHI] Act through the Constitutional Court hearings being heard from the 05th to 07th May 2026.

We stand firm in our historic and current commitment in ensuring that Universal Healthcare Coverage [UHC] for all is achieved. This principle arises from the transformative, militant and revolutionary character of NEHAWU, which is informed by our campaigning drive to completely overhaul and dismantle the highly unequal two-tiered healthcare system and replace it with the system envisioned in the NHI Act. For over two decades, NEHAWU has supported the development and shaping of NHI, we participated in the line-by-line scrutiny of the Bill at NEDLAC, made presentations to parliament and mobilised our members and communities for the public hearings.

The Constitutional Court cases represent a massive test to our democracy, to progressive policy trajectory and developmental progress based on the Freedom Charter and Constitution. The parties lodging these cases against the NHI Act represent a front for a well-funded, well-coordinated, anti-transformation and anti-working class agenda. The parties want to ensure that the apartheid legacy’s two-tiered healthcare system remains intact, their primary concern is the multi-billion Rand private medical healthcare insurance system that place profit over the lives of our people.

We therefore wish to use this opportunity, not to delve into the legal issues of the court, but to expose the real motivations of this anti-working class front and call for the immediate mass mobilization of organized labour, civil society and our communities in defense of this revolutionary Act.

The long and necessary public participation process of ensuring that all stakeholders in South Africa are given an opportunity to present their perspectives on any Bill before parliament is one of the cornerstone procedural steps of our hard fought democracy. This was the case with the NHI Act, the records and outcomes of these public, community and stakeholder engagements are testimony to the extensive deliberation and debate that took place.

The entities that have launched over 15 separate cases against the passing of the NHI into law were all part-and-parcel of these lengthy public participation procedures. They all had ample opportunity to present their grievances and concerns and, to convince the public otherwise. They failed to convince the public and their concerns were indeed taken into account. However, once the Act was signed into law, these well-funded and powerful entities then took to the media, who in many instances acted as their mouthpiece, lamenting NHI, creating an atmosphere of fear amongst workers in both private and public healthcare and diminishing the importance of UHC in South Africa, despite the repeated recommendations from the World Health Organisation to do away with the archaic two-tiered healthcare system. 

The Constitutional Court hearings also takes place in the context of worsening conditions facing workers and the poor, the recent increase in the price of fuel will perpetuate a crisis in the cost of living, plunging millions of South Africans deeper into poverty. Most South Africans cannot afford private medical aid, those that can [only 14% of the population] have faced ludicrous increases in charges, not fitting the services they receive. It is these very same multi-billion Rand private medical insurance oligopolies that are coordinating this attack on the NHI Act, they have profited from the lives of our people for decades, and they are therefore the anti-thesis of UHC and must be exposed.

Lastly, the union calls on its members, workers, the alliance, civil society and progressive organisations to join the defense of this revolutionary Act.

The Constitutional Court hearings are only the start to what we foresee as a drawn out legal battle to stall the implementation of NHI – we must therefore better coordinate ourselves as a broad progressive front to ensure that this transformative law is not sabotaged by these profit driven entities.

END

Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat.

_________________

Minister Gwede Mantashe announces adjustment of fuel prices effective from 6 May 2026

04 May 2026

The Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources announces the adjustment of fuel prices based on current local and international factors with effect from the 6th of May 2026.

South Africa’s fuel prices are adjusted monthly, informed by international and local factors. International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation costs, e.g., shipping costs.

The main reasons for the fuel price adjustments are due to:

Crude oil prices

The average Brent Crude oil price increased from 93.67 US Dollars (USD) to 101 USD during the period under review. This is due to the continued tension between the US and Iran, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and damage to other crucial infrastructure which have affected crude oil supply.

2. International petroleum product prices

The average international product prices followed the increasing trend of crude oil prices. The prices of middle distillates (diesel and paraffin) increased more than petrol prices because of higher demand and reduced supply from the Persian Gulf. These factors led to higher contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by R2.04 per litre, R4,96 per litre and R4,21 per litre, Media Statement – Fuel Price Adjustments for May 2026 respectively. The prices of Propane and Butane increased during the period under review due to limited global supply since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

3. Rand/US Dollar exchange rate

The Rand remained constant on average, against the US Dollar (from 16.64 to 16.65 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one. This led to a contribution of less than one cent per liter to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and Illuminating Paraffin during the period under review.

4. Implementation of the Slate Levy

The cumulative slate amounted to a negative balance of R14.173 billion for petrol and diesel at the end of March 2026. In line with the provisions of the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism, the slate levy of 122.70 c/l will be implemented in the price structures of petrol and diesel with effect from the 6th of May 2026.

5. Extension of Short-term Relief Measure to Address Fuel Price Increases

Due to the ongoing US-Iran conflict which continues to affect fuel prices globally, the Minister of Finance in consultation with the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources announced a further temporary reduction in the general fuel levy of 300.0 c/l to be implemented in the price structures of petrol and R393.0 c/l for diesel from the 6th of May 2026 to the 2nd June 2026.

6. The Maximum Refinery Gate Price (MRGP) for LPGas that is imported through the Port of Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape province.

The Maximum Refinery Gate Price (MRGP) and the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of LPGas that is imported through the Port of Saldanha Bay will be R18 375.72 per metric ton and R40,85 per kilogram, respectively, effective from the 6th of May 2026. Media Statement – Fuel Price Adjustments for May 2026.

Petrol 93 and 95 (ULP & LRP): Three Rands and twenty-seven cents per litre (R3,27 per litre) increase.

Diesel (0.05% sulphur): Six Rands and nineteen cents per litre (R6,19 per litre) increase.

Diesel (0.005% sulphur): Six Rands and nineteen cents per litre (R6,19 per litre) increase.

Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): Four Rands and twenty-two cents per litre (R4,22 per litre) increase

SMNRP for IP: Five Rands and sixty-three cents per litre (R5,63 per litre) increase.

Maximum Retail Price of LPGas: Five Rands and seven cents per kilogram (R5,07 per kg) increase in Gauteng and five Rands and seventy-eight cents per kilogram (R5,78 per kg) increase in the Western Cape; and

Based on current local and international factors, the fuel prices for May 2026 will be adjusted as follows:

The fuel prices schedule for the different Magisterial District Zones (MDZ) will be published on Tuesday, the 5th of May 2026.

Enquiries: medi...@dmpr.gov.za 

Ms Lerato Ntsoko 
Cell: 082 459 2788
E-mail: 
lerato...@dmpr.gov.za 

Ms Yolanda Mhlathi 
Cell: 067 258 1122
E-mail: 
yolanda...@dmpr.gov.za 

Mr Johannes Mokobane 
Cell: 082 766 3674
E-mail: 
johannes...@dmpr.gov.za  

Issued by Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources

International-Solidarity   

ArcelorMittal: Enough is enough

4 May, 2026

ArcelorMittal is one of the world’s most profitable steel companies. It is also a company where over 300 workers have died in a decade, thousands of jobs are being cut without consultation, climate commitments are being abandoned and trade unions are being systematically silenced. IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll European Trade Union are saying enough is enough.

ArcelorMittal is one of the world’s most profitable steel companies. However, ArcelorMittal worker safety failures are a major concern for many. It is also a company where over 300 workers have died in a decade, thousands of jobs are being cut without consultation, climate commitments are being abandoned and trade unions are being systematically silenced. IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll European Trade Union are saying enough is enough.

A new investor brief, based on worker testimony from multiple countries and recounting company failures in Kazakhstan, Mexico, Brazil, Liberia, the USA and across Europe, exposes a stark and consistent gap between what ArcelorMittal says and what workers experience. The picture that emerges is not of isolated failures but of a company-wide pattern of putting short-term financial gain above the safety, rights and futures of its workforce.

A decade of preventable deaths

Central to the day of action is ArcelorMittal’s catastrophic safety record. Between 2013 and 2023, over 300 workers died at ArcelorMittal operations worldwide. The investor brief makes clear these deaths are not the unavoidable result of working in a dangerous industry, they are the consequence of a company that consistently fails to invest in its infrastructure, engage meaningfully with trade unions on occupational safety and learn from tragedy.

In October 2023, a fire at ArcelorMittal’s Kostenko coal mine in Kazakhstan killed 46 workers, the country’s worst industrial accident since independence. SteelWatch later reported the company left Kazakhstan with billions of dollars in unresolved health damages, having faced demands to compensate victims and families for nearly 30 years of deaths and injuries. An investor report at the time called the fire: unfortunately not surprising, given the company’s record.

In June 2025, a preventable boiler explosion at ArcelorMittal’s power plant in Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico, the result of years of deferred maintenance, killed a supervisor and seriously injured a worker. The company had repeatedly patched boiler leaks rather than addressing underlying equipment failures. Production was halted for over six months.

In Brazil, IndustriALL affiliate CNM-CUT reports 22 workplace accident reports registered with the local union in the past year alone, alongside numerous near-misses including crane failures, molten steel spills, ruptured pressurised pipes and falling heavy loads. Workers describe a culture of fear, stagnating wages and deteriorating equipment across multiple plants.

This is not a new crisis. In 2024, IndustriALL and industriAll European Trade Union staged a global day of action calling on ArcelorMittal to stop deaths at work.

The situation has not improved.

Silencing workers’ voices

The investor brief documents a consistent pattern of union avoidance and disregard for social dialogue across ArcelorMittal’s global operations.

In Europe, the company has repeatedly sidelined its European works council (EWC), failing to consult it on major restructuring decisions in violation of both EU law and its own EWC agreement. The situation became so untenable that in March 2026 the EWC was forced to demand mediation. European trade unions describe the company’s approach as gaslighting, claiming to inform the EWC while not doing so at all.

In Liberia, ArcelorMittal has failed to hold its security contractor SEGAL to basic labour standards, despite SEGAL workers joining IndustriALL affiliate United Workers Union of Liberia (UWUL) in April 2025. When SEGAL workers staged a peaceful protest in October 2025, 16 of them were beaten and arrested on the SEGAL’s orders. Twelve security guards fired weeks after joining the union have not been reinstated, despite a ministry of labour order to do so.

You allow someone in your house to violate laws and you don’t take action; you are complicit in that,” United Workers Union of Liberia.

In the USA, members of the United Steelworkers were forced into a 69-day strike , the longest in Local 3057’s history at ArcelorMittal’s Shelby, Ohio facility before securing a fair agreement on wages, retirement benefits and healthcare. As the union pointed out, the strike was not about wages. It was about quality of life.

Cutting jobs in profitable operations

Despite its European operations making a major contribution to group earnings, with steady sales performance between 2022 and 2025 and a low debt ratio, ArcelorMittal has been rolling out sweeping job cuts across the continent.

In a first wave of restructuring in 2025, between 1,145 and 1,400 full-time equivalent positions were offshored to the company’s AM/NS joint venture in India. In January 2026, ArcelorMittal announced a second wave of 5,000 to 6,000 additional support jobs to be offshored. IndustriALL estimates that country-level production job cuts across Europe add a further 3,000 positions. This means up to nearly one-third of ArcelorMittal’s entire European workforce is at risk.

These changes are being made without genuine consultation with trade unions or the EWC. And the offshoring destination, ArcelorMittal’s AM/NS joint venture in India, is itself characterised by union avoidance, heavy reliance on subcontracting and persistent resistance to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Abandoning climate commitments

ArcelorMittal’s carbon footprint is comparable to that of a small country such as Belgium. The brief argues that the company has a critical role to play in the transition to clean steel and that it is choosing not to play it.

Despite receiving over €3 billion (US$3.24 billion) in public subsidies for decarbonization across Europe and beyond ArcelorMittal has, according to SteelWatch, not taken a single final investment decision on any of its five announced direct reduced iron (DRI) projects in Europe and Canada. In 2025, the company withdrew from a decarbonisation project in Germany that had €1.3 billion(US$1.4 billion) in state subsidies attached to it.

At the same time, the company spent only US$800 million on decarbonization between 2021 and 2024 while returning US$12 billion to shareholders in dividends and buybacks. SteelWatch has accused the company of backtracking on its climate commitments and abdicating its role as an industry leader.

“ArcelorMittal could be leading the way instead of blaming economic uncertainty for its delay. This is not climate leadership, it’s a strategic retreat,” SteelWatch

A message to investors

This brief is directed not only at the public but at ArcelorMittal’s shareholders, who the union argues have both the right and the responsibility to hold the company to account.

It identifies seven areas for investor engagement, including social dialogue, the EWC, occupational health and safety, job cuts in Europe, decarbonization, transparency and reporting and the equal treatment of contractors. It argues that the company’s failures in each of these areas expose it to significant legal, operational, financial and reputational risks.

IndustriALL general secretary, Atle, Høie says:

“ArcelorMittal is a profitable company making deliberate choices: to cut jobs, ignore safety and walk away from its climate commitments. Workers are paying the price. Enough is enough.”

With the EU Steel and Metals Action Plan in place, a supportive policy framework, solid financial results and massive public support, ArcelorMittal has no justification for standing still on investment in decarbonisation. Investing in decarbonisation means investing in decent union jobs, skills and the long‑term future of steel in Europe — and the company must now do its part,” says Jude Kirton-Darling, general secretary, industriAll European Trade Union.

Taking the fight to the AGM

To demand action, IndustriALL Global Union and industriAll European Trade Union will be present at ArcelorMittal’s AGM in Luxembourg on 5 May 2026, staging a global day of action. Trade unionists and worker representatives from across the company’s global operations will be there to make clear that these failures can no longer be ignored, by the company or its investors.

The action is backed by the detailed investor brief outlining seven key areas for shareholder engagement.

Global day of action: 5 May 2026, 10:00 CET | 24–26 Boulevard d’Avranches, Luxembourg

____________________________

Condemnation statement of the World Federation of Trade Unions on the attack on Sumud Flotila Activists

by WFTU, 04 May 2026

The World Federation of Trade Unions expresses its grave concern and unequivocal condemnation regarding the interception of the Sumud Flotilla convoy by Israeli military forces in international waters while it was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The Sumud Flotilla was intercepted in international waters in what can only be described as an act of piracy in violation of international law. The Israeli armed forces sabotaged and destroyed boats, leaving many activists stranded at sea with no means of reaching land. During the boarding of the vessels, activists were assaulted and attacked. Activists remain illegally detained by the Israeli authorities, including our comrade Saif Abu Keshek, a trade unionist of the Catalan union IAC and a member of the WFTU.

The World Federation of Trade Unions demands the immediate and unconditional release of all detained activists, including our comrade Saif Abu Keshek, and calls for full guarantees of their physical integrity and their safe return to their countries.

This attack constitutes yet another escalation by the state of Israel against international solidarity efforts and against the Palestinian people, who continue to suffer under occupation, blockade, and systematic violations of their fundamental rights. The targeting of a humanitarian mission aimed at delivering aid to the besieged population of the Gaza Strip once again exposes the brutality of the ongoing blockade and the attempt to silence all voices of solidarity.

The WFTU expresses its full solidarity with the activists of the Sumud Flotilla and with all those who struggle for peace, justice, and dignity. We salute the courage of the trade unionists and internationalists who, despite threats and repression, continue to stand with the Palestinian people.

No act of repression will deter the international labor movement from standing firmly on the side of justice, peace, and international solidarity.

_____________________________

Teachers are inspiring global action for racial justice in education

Equity and inclusion, 5 May 2026 written by: David Archer, Sharon Walker,

Jáfia Naftali Câmara, Arathi Sriprakash and Zama Mthunzi, 

Racism is a global – and arguably growing – problem. And yet, programmes for anti-racist educational practice are rarely prioritised and sustained in national and global policy agendas.

The Global Action for Racial Justice in Education Project showcases inspiring anti-racist initiatives in education from around the world – often led by students, teachers, activists, and civil society organisations – to demonstrate the possibilities for anti-racist futures and to foster global solidarity for anti-racist policy action.

With help from Education International (EI), the Global Student Forum, and the Global Campaign for Education, our project has so far identified over 130 anti-racist education initiatives across the world which are tackling racism, casteism, Islamophobia, decolonisation, and other related structures of domination and prejudice in education. Through interviews and case-study research, we have examined how anti-racist education is conceptualised and implemented in different political, cultural and social contexts.

This work resonates with the commitments made in a resolution at Education International’s 10th International Congress in Buenos Aires in 2024 which emphasised that EI would promote and protect human rights ‘ irrespective of racial identity, cultural backgrounds, social class or religion and belief’, The resolution recognises that ‘ teachers and other education staff, as pivotal figures in shaping educational environments, have a crucial role to play in fostering inclusivity and combating discrimination’. The resolution resolved to ‘ campaign for the introduction of cultural competence, anti-racism and anti-caste discrimination awareness within initial and continuing professional development education programmes.’

Our work reveals the many ways in which teachers do indeed play a critical role in anti-racist education. We identified many examples of the ways teachers make a difference in very diverse settings. Reading these accounts together, we argue that this work also shows how teachers are inspiring and catalysing global action for racial justice in education.

Teachers are working collectively to create anti-racist education systems

In Brazil, Escola Comunitária Luiza Mahin (Luiza Mahin Community School) emerged from a protest by local residents, mostly Black women, against the exclusion of children aged 2 to 5 from the public education system. The school focuses on racial and gender empowerment as a central priority by welcoming and nurturing Black children, fostering their identity, self-esteem and critical awareness from early childhood.

Rede de Professores Antirracistas is a network of teachers creating strategies for antiracist actions in and out of schooling. It works collectively, building practical knowledge, uniting teachers across Brazil who are interested in building a more diverse, respectful and antiracist school.

Teachers are challenging racist regimes

Satyashodhak Shikshak Sabha (meaning: Truth-Seeking Teachers’ Association) is a grassroots teachers’ collective in Maharashtra, India, rooted in anti-caste philosophy and committed to challenging social inequities entrenched within the Indian school system. They conduct teacher workshops, not merely as training sessions, but as critical pedagogy spaces to challenge dominant political casteist ideologies.

Te Akatea is an organisation representing Māori leaders and educators in Aotearoa New Zealand’s education system, offering culturally grounded leadership programmes that strengthen the connections between schools and Māori communities. They call out systemic racism and denounce attempts to recolonise education.

Teachers are actively developing anti-racist practices in their schools and sectors

COPERA has been doing antiracist work in Mexico for over fifteen years and has recently sought to bring antiracist and anti-oppressive approaches into public schools in deeply unequal and often violent contexts. From classroom workshops to whole-school conferences, they explore racism through an intersectional lens, grounded in lived experience rather than abstract theory.

The Anti-racism Movement (ARM) is a feminist and antiracist organisation operating in Lebanon, which challenges the Kafala system and has taken its work into private and state schools across Lebanon. One of its key focuses is anti-racist education in schools, an initiative that was only made possible because educators built this bridge. Sometimes, ARM contacted the schools directly; at other times, it was the teachers who invited them into schools. The impact spread like a domino effect: one school, one inspired teacher, who tells another friend, and so on.

In a recent publication, we exposed how racism remains a major obstacle to equal education, arguing that three myths need to be challenged if we are to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal Four on education:

That racism is only an issue in some countries – which is patently untrue as our research documents anti-racist initiatives in countries as diverse as Lebanon, India, New Zealand, Senegal and Mexico.

That we can’t talk about racism because there is lack of comparative data – when ways can clearly be found to document the impact of structural racism as we have started to do.

That racism is too politically sensitive to address in SDG4 - when any inequity in education should be recognised as a political problem, which means solutions should and indeed, must be political. We do not prevent systems of oppression by not naming them!

Additionally, we want to acknowledge that genocide and the targeted bombing of schools are racial justice issues. Teachers and students across the world have faced unabated violence, including in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, and Iran, where thousands of children have been killed at school. Others have been unable to attend for years as their schools have been destroyed or turned into shelters. Any post-SDG4 antiracist framework must address genocide, the destruction of schools, and the killing of children and teachers. Building an antiracist education system is impossible under such conditions.

As we start reflecting on what should come after the SDG framework on education now is the time to work together to challenge myths and change both discourse and practice so that we can finally address racial justice issues in education and build anti-racist public education systems everywhere.

Please join us in this struggle to break the silence on racism in education. We are launching the new website to connect teachers, activists and policy makers on 6th May at 13:00 GMT - in a multilingual webinar. You can register to join us at this link.

David Archer is Head of Programmes for ActionAid’s Global Secretariat, connecting work on economic justice, public services, climate justice, women’s rights and feminist, decolonial alternatives. He co-founded the Global Campaign for Education and was the stakeholder convenor on finance for the 2022 UN Heads of State Transforming Education Summit.

______________________________

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

 

 

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