SACP congratulates Nehawu on its successful 13th National Congress
SACP Communications
South African Communist Party
SACP congratulates Nehawu on its successful 13th National Congress
Wednesday, 1 July 2026: The South African Communist Party (SACP) congratulates the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) for their successful 13th National Congress, held from 26 to 29 June.
The SACP congratulates the newly elected leadership collective as led by President Nyameka Macanda and Secretary General Zola Saphetha, respectively. We also appreciate Nehawu’s resolution to support the SACP’s elections programme.
The SACP recognises the important role of Nehawu as the biggest affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions and as a leading public sector union with an industrial orientation. The task to transform the public sector remains an important one to be taken forward by public sector unions, and Nehawu continues to be a critical component of that particular task.
As the SACP, we take great pride in knowing that Nehawu has reaffirmed in their congress their commitment to taking forward the struggle against neoliberalism, austerity and capitalist exploitation more broadly. The fight against neoliberalism is one that the SACP takes up on various fronts and will work with Nehawu in this regard. Nehawu’s commitment in this respect assures those of us who are in struggle for socialism that the ranks of the revolutionary forces are fortified and that the working class remains the most reliable force in our struggle for socialism.
The organised and unorganised working class in our country carry the flag of our revolution. The unity of the working class is particularly important at this critical time in our country, where reactionary forces seek to cultivate divisions and tensions among the working class by utilising tropes such as regionalism, nationalism, ethnicity and immigration status.
We wish the union strength, wisdom and courage as it implements its programme of action from the National Congress.