Taking COSATU Today Forward, 26 May 2026 #CosatuCEC2026
Norman Mampane
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COSATU TODAY COSATU Call Center Contacts: 010 002 2590 #Cosatu ordinary CEC is in session #WorkerControl #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
26 May 2026
“Build Working Class Unity for Economic Liberation towards Socialism”
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Contents
- Workers Parliament: Back to Basics!
- Watch | Is South Africa Fighting Inflation the Wrong Way?
- National Treasury on Jobs Fund launching 13th Funding Round
- South Africa
- COSATU Statement on Africa Day
- Parliament Statement on the Impeachment Committee Membership
- International-Workers’ Solidarity!
- COSATU statement on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) and Pride Month 2026
Workers’ Parliament-Back2Basics#ClassWar
Watch
| Is South Africa Fighting Inflation the Wrong Way?
Watch
it here:
https://us.list-manage.com/5Xvw6mT2cUm?e=51614dd47b&c2id=f0238b14000e2a44c48926222adbaef4
The Economic Justice Matters discussion series, produced in collaboration with SMWX, returns with a timely conversation ahead of the next South African Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee meeting this Thursday, 28 May. Bringing together perspectives from
academia, the financial sector and civil society, the episode examines whether South Africa’s inflation-targeting framework remains appropriate for an economy facing weak growth, deep inequality, and structural unemployment and whether the current approach
to monetary policy is helping to fight inflation or choking the economy.
MONETARY POLICY AND THE INFLATION TARGET: ARE WE SACRIFICING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH AND FULL EMPLOYMENT?
Broadcast date: Sunday, 24 May 2026
Guests: Gina Schoeman Ackermann (Citi Bank, Managing Director), Dr Roelof Botha (Economist), and Dr Mzwanele Ntshwanti (IEJ Senior Researcher).
Moderator: Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh
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As imported inflation pressures grow and interest rates remain elevated, this episode of Economic Justice Matters interrogates one of the country’s most consequential policy debates:
Is South Africa’s monetary policy framework appropriately calibrated for the country’s economic realities?
The discussion explores whether aggressive monetary tightening can effectively address inflation driven by fuel prices, global instability, and supply-side shocks, while also considering the consequences for investment, employment, household debt, and economic
growth. For critics of the current framework, the concern is that South Africa is sacrificing growth and jobs in pursuit of an excessively low inflation target, using inappropriate instruments. As Dr Mzwanele Ntshwanti argues, “we have lost the idea of full
employment,” warning that an overly restrictive inflation target risks limiting the policy space needed to respond to recurring global shocks.
Proponents of the inflation target, particularly in the financial sector, argue that lower inflation is essential for economic credibility and long-term recovery, and that inflation hurts the poor more than rising interest rates. Gina Schoeman Ackermann also
contends that “if you can get inflation structurally lower, you can then get interest rates structurally lower”.
The conversation also examines the real-world effects of interest rate decisions on borrowing costs, debt servicing, and investment. Dr Roelof Botha sharply critiques the current stance, arguing that “our inflation target is too low, our interest rates are
too high,” and warning that the rising cost of credit is undermining economic expansion. He further calls for the reconfiguration of the Monetary Policy Committee to make it more representative of society and more transparent in its operations.
Set against renewed global uncertainty and South Africa’s ongoing employment crisis, the episode ultimately asks whether the country’s current monetary policy approach is still fit for purpose and what a more developmental framework might look like.
Concept Note:
https://us.list-manage.com/hEWcHFztQJp?e=51614dd47b&c2id=f0238b14000e2a44c48926222adbaef4
ABOUT
THE ECONOMIC JUSTICE MATTERS DISCUSSION SERIES
The Economic Justice Matters discussion series is hosted by the IEJ to deepen public engagement on progressive economic alternatives and to respond to key political moments. The series creates a platform for diverse voices, including academics, activists, and
policymakers, to explore how, in the context of real-world dynamics, policy choices can be developed in ways that maximise their impact on economic justice.
In previous conversations with SMWX, we have tackled urgent issues shaping South Africa’s economy and society:
South Africa #ClassSolidarity
COSATU Statement on Africa Day
Zanele Sabela, COSATU National Spokesperson, 25 May 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) joins the millions of Africans all over the continent and the world in marking the significance of Africa Day. This historic day dates back to 25 May 1963, when the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was established to unite and advance the common interests of Africa and all its people.
This day offers the critical opportunity for workers and all Africans throughout the continent to reflect on the journey towards a democratic, inclusive, equitable, peaceful and just Africa for all its people.
This is a responsibility that no country or state should abdicate, the task of creating conditions for all its people to live and work in. These conditions should guarantee freedom from poverty, corruption, oppression and underdevelopment. It should further guarantee the safety and security of all Africans wherever they are.
As we reflect on this journey, this is what we should hold all our states to account on progress made in advancing these goals of the Africa we want. This is where the African Union (AU) is failing Africans. It allows states to evade responsibility for the crises Africans are facing all over the continent, particularly conflicts and wars, women and children abuse and rampant looting of public resources by ruling elites without accountability.
Having failed their people these states or governments then export their problems to other countries without care for their conditions and then position themselves as the real caregivers of humanity, when difficulties arise elsewhere.
The sudden theatrics that seek to pretend to care about Africans when they are away from their national territories is not only hypocritical, but well staged drama and dishonesty by most African governments. The trade union movement must not be diverted from holding these elites responsible for the misery and suffering of their people in their own countries and throughout the continent.
To this extent, COSATU further calls for the working class of our continent to unite against corruption, oppression and violence wherever it happens, including the kidnapping of children and teachers by armed bandits in West Africa. This requires a special sitting of the AU to demonstrate decisiveness and intolerance towards such state failure and hold the elites to account for their failures collectively.
Opening the on-going CEC of COSATU, President Zingiswa Losi unequivocally expressed rejection of xenophobia and all forms of mobilisations that divides the working class. She went on to emphasise in equal measure the importance of adherence to the rule of law, including the immigration laws of South Africa and any other country on the continent.
The President was emphatically affirming that our perspectives on this matter must be truthful, honest and not pander to the whims of those seeking to confirm their own narratives about what exactly is happening in South Africa and Africa today.
The Federation reaffirms the fundamentals of its historic working-class programme to advance the integration of the continent through such tools as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) as a tool for a just trade and industrial policy and inclusive development. The crisis of uneven development on the continent reproduces unsustainable patterns of development and pose the biggest threat to peace, growth and stability on our continent.
The core issues that COSATU is advancing for a developmental economic trajectory are based on the following key issues;
- Prioritisation of industrialisation and continental trade to defend Africa’s sovereignty from unilateral tariffs imposed by external forces and undermine our growth, integration and development
- A strong institutional capacity for sustainable and lasting Peace, democracy and inclusive development in all the regions and different parts of the continent
- Strong rejection of external forces and imperialism that are driving a wedge between Africans in different countries and regions of the continent. To this extent, there is a sustained narrative by global reactionary forces against South Africa and Africa as a whole. This is no innocent agenda.
- Building and uniting the African working class against poverty, looting and corruption, conflicts and wars, diseases, inequalities and under-development. These should be regarded as integral parts of a comprehensive programme of working-class power and real economic emancipation of Africa
Issued by COSATU
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Parliament Statement on the Impeachment Committee Membership
25 May 2026
The Speaker of the National Assembly has received the names of Members from political parties who will serve on the Impeachment Committee.
The deadline for the submission of names by political parties was Friday, 22 May 2026.
Almost all political parties met the deadline, except the ANC, which indicated that it would submit its names over the weekend. The ANC has since submitted its nominees.
Two political parties, namely GOOD and the PAC, indicated that they will not participate in the Committee, as each party has only one Member in Parliament who also serves in the Executive.
The following Members have been nominated by their respective political parties to serve on the Committee:
1. African National Congress:
- Mrs DE Mpapane,
- Mr X Nqola,
- Mr MS Lekganyane,
- Ms AF Muthambi,
- Mr CM Dugmore,
- Ms DR Direko,
- Mr BM Maneli,
- Mr MG Mahlaule,
- Ms LS Makhubela, and
- Ms KJ Maimela (Alternate).
2. Democratic Alliance:
- Mr G Michalakis,
- Mr BB Nodada,
- Adv G Breytenbach,
- Ms KL Khakhau and
- Ms NK Sharif.
3. uMkhonto weSizwe Party:
- Dr MJ Hlophe,
- Mrs SMN Mokoena-Zondi and
- Dr K Litchfield-Tshabalala.
4. Economic Freedom Fighters:
- Mr JS Malema
- Ms OMC Maotwe.
5. Inkatha Freedom Party:
- Mr NM Hadebe.
6 Patriotic Alliance:
- Mr MV Daniels.
7. Freedom Front Plus:
- Mr WW Wessels.
8. ActionSA:
- Ms LM Ngobeni
- Mr RAP Trollip (Alternate).
9. African Christian Democratic Party:
- Mr SN Swart.
10. United Democratic Movement:
- Mr NLS Kwankwa.
11. Rise Mzansi:
- Mr SM Gana.
12. Build One South Africa:
- Dr MA Maimane.
13. African Transformation Movement:
- Mr V Zungula.
14. Al-Jama-ah:
- Mr I Ismail-Moosa.
15. National Coloured Congress:
- Mr F Adams.
16. United Africans Transformation:
- Dr LW Mahlatsi.
ISSUED BY PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
International-Solidarity
COSATU statement on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) and Pride Month 2026
Kgomotso Makhupola, COSATU Gender National Chairperson, 25 May 2026
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) stands with workers, communities, activists and organisations across South Africa and the world in commemorating Pride Month and the International Day Against against Homophobia (hatred and discrimination directed at lesbian and gay people), Biphobia (prejudice against bisexual people), Intersexism (discrimination against intersex people) and Transphobia (prejudice and violence against transgender people).
This occasion celebrates dignity, courage and the right of all people to live freely and safely. They also remind us that many LGBTQI+ people still face discrimination, violence and exclusion at work, in communities and in society.
As a Federation rooted in working class struggle, COSATU believes that an injury to one is an injury to all. The fight against patriarchy, gender-based violence, racism, xenophobia, class exploitation and all forms of oppression must include the rights of LGBTQI+ workers and communities.
On 17 May 1990, the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders after many years of struggle by LGBTQI+ people, confirming that there is nothing wrong or unnatural about same-sex relationships.
Thirty-six years later, we mark IDAHOBIT as a moment of celebration, but also as a reminder that the struggle continues. For workers in South Africa and across our region, the struggle for dignity, safety and equality is not over. In many places, these rights are under attack.
COSATU affirms clearly: LGBTQI+ workers are workers. Their safety is a labour issue. Their dignity is a labour issue. Their right to work free from harassment, discrimination and violence is a labour issue.
In workplaces across South Africa, LGBTQI+ workers - especially black working-class people, transgender workers, and those in townships and rural areas - continue to face:
• Discrimination in hiring, promotion and dismissal
• Harassment and hostile working environments
• Exclusion from union spaces that should protect them
• Violence and abuse inside and outside the workplace
• Silence and inaction from employers and sometimes even unions themselves
This is not acceptable. The labour movement was built on the principle that an injury to one is an injury to all. That principle does not have exceptions.
As we mark this day, rights are being pushed back in much of our continent and region. That reality demands that the labour movement speak plainly and act with urgency.
In Eswatini, the situation has worsened sharply. Same-sex conduct between men is still criminalised under colonial-era law. In January 2026, the Education Minister said same-sex relationships had no place in schools and that learners involved should be expelled. Six learners were later expelled, publicly shamed and humiliated, before being reinstated. In April 2026, King Mswati said LGBT people would never be welcome in Eswatini while he remains king. These acts show a deepening attack on the dignity, safety and basic rights of LGBTQI+ people in Eswatini. COSATU raised these concerns in our May Day 2026 statement and we repeat them here: the treatment of LGBTQI+ people in Eswatini is a human rights crisis on our doorstep.
In Zimbabwe, 2025 saw law enforcement given an explicit mandate to intensify the targeting, arrest and harassment of sexual and gender minorities. Civil society organisations face new restrictive legislation that threatens their ability to operate. Anti-LGBTQI+ sentiment online and offline is growing.
Across the continent, the trend is stark. Since 2009, Burundi, Chad, Mali and – as recently as September 2025 – Burkina Faso have all newly criminalised same-sex conduct. Countries where homosexuality was previously legal are moving backwards.
This is not coincidence. It is a political pattern — the weaponisation of homophobia and transphobia by authoritarian and conservative forces to consolidate power, distract from economic failure and divide working-class communities.
We also note the contested situation in countries that have seen legal advances. In Namibia, a court victory decriminalising same-sex conduct in June 2024 was rapidly met by parliamentary legislation banning marriage equality and criminalising support for LGBTQI+ rights. In Mozambique, employment discrimination protections that existed since 2007 were repealed in 2024, even as decriminalisation enacted in 2015 remains.
The lesson is clear: rights won in courts must be defended in parliaments, in workplaces and in organised movements.
We reject the claim that homophobia and transphobia are expressions of African culture and tradition, and that LGBTQI+ rights are a Western imposition.
The truth is the opposite. The laws used across Africa to criminalise same-sex relationships were introduced during colonial rule. LGBTQI+ people have always existed in African societies. What was imported was the law that persecutes them.
When political leaders use the language of “African values” to justify persecution, they are not defending tradition. They are using colonial legal instruments while claiming African tradition.
Homophobia is also being encouraged by organised right-wing political forces, including conservative evangelical groups linked to the United States, which are helping spread anti-LGBTQI+ politics across Africa. These forces use division and fear to distract workers and communities from the real crises of unemployment, poverty and inequality.
South Africa’s Constitution remains among the most progressive in the world. Section 9 prohibits unfair discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Employment Equity Act and the Labour Relations Act provide ways for workers to challenge discrimination.
But constitutional protections are only as strong as the organised power that defends them. Hate crimes, rape and other forms of sexual violence, workplace discrimination and social exclusion remain widespread - disproportionately affecting black working-class LGBTQI+ people, transgender people, and those in rural and township communities.
We call on all employers to:
• Implement and enforce non-discrimination policies that clearly include sexual orientation and gender identity
• Ensure grievance procedures are accessible and safe for LGBTQI+ workers
• Address homophobic and transphobic harassment as serious workplace misconduct
We call on all COSATU affiliates and provinces to:
• Make LGBTQI+ inclusion a standing part of shop steward education and gender programmes
• Create union environments where LGBTQI+ members can raise grievances without fear
• Integrate equality for LGBTQI+ workers into collective bargaining demands
• COSATU is committed to more than symbolic gestures. This work must be sustained. It must not be reduced to a ribbon on 17 May and silence for the remaining 364 days.
• Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia are tools of division. They are used to shame workers into silence, to exclude people from solidarity, and to maintain hierarchies within the working class. Our task as a labour movement is to dismantle those divisions – through education, organising, policy change, and the ongoing transformation of our own internal culture.
• As we move into Pride Month in June, we reaffirm that pride is a tradition of resistance rooted in the struggles of working-class LGBTQI+ people who refused to be silenced or erased – from the Stonewall Riots of 1969 to the streets of Johannesburg, Lusaka and Mbabane today.
We call on all workers, shop stewards, union officials and provincial structures to:
1. Educate – hold discussions in workplaces and union structures about the rights and experiences of LGBTQI+ workers
2. Organise – ensure LGBTQI+ workers know their rights and have access to union support and protection
3. Advocate – push for non-discrimination policies in every workplace and collective agreement
4. Stand in solidarity – with LGBTQI+ workers and activists across South Africa and the region, including in Eswatini and Zimbabwe
An injury to one is an injury to all. That is not a slogan. It is our commitment.
Issued by COSATU
______________________________
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