By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is preparing to set out its priorities for its 15th National Congress kicking off at the Gallagher Estates Convention in Midrand on Monday, 14 September 2026.
Cosatu heads to the congress facing challenges on several fronts. It has missed its membership target again, the world of work is being transformed by technology at an unprecedented speed, and there is a continuous threat to the livelihood of its members due to the limping economy.
The federation briefed the media on Friday, 11 September 2026, ahead of its elective congress.
The outgoing leadership has outlined Cosatu’s political, organisational, socio-economic and international positions ahead of the gathering.
Among its priorities are growing membership, rebuilding workplace organisation, and deciding whether to campaign alongside the African National Congress (ANC) or the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).
Cosatu Secretary-General Solly Phetoe said the federation was ready to host the Congress, which is expected to bring together more than 1,800 delegates.
Phetoe said, new leaders will emerge to take the organisation forward and unite workers around the challenges facing the labour movement.
He said the federation would intensify its anti-corruption campaign, protect whistle-blowers and oppose austerity while using collective bargaining and key institutions to advance a working-class economic programme focused on job creation, industrialisation, public investment and fairer taxation.
“Cosatu is concerned that gig and platform workers often lack adequate wages, social protection and collective bargaining rights. It seeks labour-law reforms to protect them and prevent digitisation and artificial intelligence from becoming tools of exploitation,” Phetoe said.
The Cosatu Central Committee has directed the federation’s leadership to convene an Alliance Political Council involving the ANC and SACP to agree on the “modalities” for contesting the elections without compromising the alliance.
Cosatu president Zingisa Losi said the meeting is yet to take place, although the federation had held bilateral meetings with both the ANC and SACP.
She said the federation’s unity was crucial to ensure Cosatu remained focused on its mandate and did not become divided over which of its alliance partners to support as workers faced deteriorating conditions.
Losi said the question of which party Cosatu would support in the local government elections should not overshadow the Congress, saying delegates would debate the issue and adopt a collective resolution.
The alliance partners will both contend in the local government elections after the SACP confirmed its intention to run independently.
In 2022, Cosatu re-elected Losi, an ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, as its leader. Fullview has learnt that Losi’s position will not be contested next week. In contrast, Cosatu 1st deputy president Mike Shingange is strongly aligned with the SACP. This has created deep ideological fractures over Cosatu’s stance on the Government of National Unity (GNU) and upcoming polls.