Shingange and Cele face off for Cosatu presidency

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Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandDelegates attend Cosatu’s 15th National Congress for the election of office bearers, in Boksburg, October 12 2026. Picture: Freddy Mavunda/Business Day Story audio is generated using AI

The contest to become president of Cosatu, SA’s largest labour federation, is set to be narrowed to two candidates: Mike Shingange and Mabutho Cele.

Given Cosatu’s influence within the tripartite alliance with the ANC and the SACP, whoever leads the federation will hold sway in how the government shapes labour policy and how the public and private sectors respond to workers’ concerns.

Cosatu has been instrumental in shaping the government’s labour policy since the dawn of democracy and counts among its gains the introduction of the national minimum wage, the Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Employment Equity Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which provide a framework for protecting workers’ rights, improving working conditions and promoting equality in the workplace.

Its other victories pertained to efforts aimed at ending loadshedding; the two-pot pension reforms that have enabled more than 4 million workers to access more than R79bn of their retirement savings; the adoption of the National Health Insurance Act towards universal healthcare; the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, which strengthens access and transformation in education; and the Expropriation Act.

Cosatu, which has about 1.6 million members, is holding its reconvened elective conference at Emperors Palace, east of Johannesburg, after its initial attempts collapsed when delegates squabbled over who was eligible to attend a conference scheduled for September 14 to 17 at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.

Shingange, the immediate former president of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), is set to square off with Mabutho Cele, the deputy president of the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), after both leaders accepted their nominations.

Zingiswa Losi, the outgoing Cosatu president, is set to battle it out with the incumbent Solly Phetoe for the position of general secretary, one of the most powerful positions within the labour federation.

Freda Oosthuysen, who served as national treasurer, was not nominated for a leadership position.

Cosatu national spokesperson Zanele Sabela said voting would take place on Tuesday afternoon and “leadership results will be announced [on Thursday]”.

Business Day reported last month that half of Cosatu’s leadership said they would accept an opportunity to serve another term as national office bearers, even as the labour movement confronts mounting challenges.

On the first day of congress on Monday, Losi appeared to extend an olive branch to her comrades and call for unity as some leaders were expected to contest leadership positions.

In her opening address to the congress ending on Wednesday, Losi said the past month had been a painful chapter for the federation after it had been “embarrassed by the spectacle of an adjourned congress”.

“This is a moment that dares not bring pride to any among us. We joined this federation in the spirit of comradeship, united in our determination to defeat unemployment, exploitation, poverty, inequality, racism, sexism and so many other enemies of the working class. Yet instead we have descended into factions, to label each other as enemies who must be destroyed at all costs, even if we destroy Cosatu,” Losi said.

“We have been down this road of division, and it does not end well. It weakens the federation, it demoralises workers, and it emboldens our class enemies. It is enough. Let this adjourned congress mark the moment when all of us step back from the precipice, unite and put aside our differences and place the unity of the federation and the interests of the working class ahead of our individual ambitions or factional imaginations.”

Losi warned: “The choice is ours. We can continue along the path of division and litigation, or we can unite and claim our rightful space as the leadership of the working class and the defender of the National Democratic Revolution. We must be guided by the principles of unity.”

The unprecedented postponement came after some affiliated unions, including Samwu and Nehawu, flatly refused to hand over their lists of delegates attending the conference, demanding the congress first clarify the status of Cosatu’s first deputy president, Shingange, the immediate former president of Nehawu, one of Cosatu’s largest unions.

Let this adjourned congress mark the moment when all of us step back from the precipice …

Nehawu suspended Shingange on the eve of the congress after he allegedly defied the union’s instruction not to sign a nomination form to run for Cosatu president. He was granted relief by the labour court, which ruled the precautionary suspension did not prevent him from attending and participating in Cosatu’s leadership election.

Samwu, representing about 160,000 of the country’s nearly 300,000 municipal workers, last week filed an urgent application to stop Cosatu’s 15th national congress from going ahead.

However, the high court dismissed the application with costs on Friday, allowing the congress to proceed.

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