By Lehlohonolo Lehana, reporting live from Midrand.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) 15th National Congress will reconvene at 9:00 am on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, following a shaky start over adoption of credentials.
The four-day event began on Monday, September 14, 2026, at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.
The proceedings stalled over disputed credentials and the position of the federation’s first deputy president Mike Shingange.
Shingange was suspended by his union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) for bringing it into disrepute.
Fullview understands that Shingange was suspended over the allegations of misusing union resources and for bringing it into the disrepute.
Our source told Fullview that Shingange was suspended on Friday, few days ahead of the National Elective Congress over serious allegations.
Another source said a fall out between the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) has led to the suspension of Shingange.
Nehawu is supporting Sadtu deputy president Mabutho Cele as the new president of Cosatu.
Affiliates including the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and SASBO demanded that the congress discuss Shingange’s suspension before the business of the day can start. Num wants Shingange to be the president of Cosatu.
NUM also wants Solly Phetoe to continue as general secretary, but the public sector unions are backing Zingiswa Losi for the position.
Fullview learnt that Losi is keen to take up the position and has the backing of tripartite alliance partner, the ANC.
In 2022, Cosatu re-elected Losi, an ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, as its leader. In contrast, 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.
After all the drama, deliberations and singing, Shingange told delegates that Congress will resume at 9am tomorrow, with the adoption of credentials still on the agenda. He told Fullview that Central Executive Committee (CEC) is deliberating on the issues at hand going into the night.
The conference comes at a challenging time for workers, with the rapid adoption of new technologies putting jobs and livelihoods under increasing pressure.
ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe appealed for patience as COSATU works to resolve its internal matters.
The ANC is prepared to postpone its message of support until tomorrow, allowing the federation space to settle its differences, adopt credentials and emerge united.
Analyst Dr Ebrahim Harvey says the COSATU crisis is being driven by internal leadership tensions, the SACP’s decision to contest the local government elections independently, and the suspension of Shingange, who was expected to challenge Losi for the presidency.
“One of the big challenges for COSATU is that the SACP has decided that it is tired of being a convenient electoral cannon for the ANC, largely, although not totally, because it wants to make some important gains. There have historically been strong ties between COSATU and the SACP, so this is a huge development. At one stage, the ANC had instructed its members that they were compelled to vote for the ANC and not the SACP. But the SACP is now standing in the elections on its own on 4 November,” said Harvey.
Harvey said this is a huge moment for COSATU, as they are witnessing what could be the biggest crisis in the history of COSATU, not just in post-apartheid South Africa, but probably since the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910.