By Amy Musgrave
Cosatu leaders have poured cold water over claims that political interference led to the federation’s congress collapsing, saying it had to be adjourned to avoid further litigation.
“It is difficult for us to speculate if it was driven by politics… We did not get to the political report … or the state of the alliance,” Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi told reporters on Wednesday.
The four-day meeting that was meant to kick off on Monday morning, adjourned on Tuesday night. It was the first time in its history that Cosatu failed to convene its national congress after its 16 affiliates could not reach a quorum within the three hours stipulated by the federation’s constitution.
This reason for this was that seven affiliates refused to submit their credential documents because it was unclear if Cosatu first deputy president Mike Shingange would be able to participate in the federation’s elections after his union, Nehawu, put him on provisional suspension. He is also the president of Nehawu.
“As much as we were engaging each other; the risk could have been possible litigation. It would have been a court argument to say they were there and they were not there,” Losi said.
The meeting did not get to nominations for Cosatu’s top six leaders. Nor was the federation able to pronounce on whether it would back the ANC or the SACP in the upcoming local government elections.
Losi revealed that Cosatu had spent around R12 million on the congress. While its central executive committee will have to sit to discuss a new budget and when the congress will be held, the president said it will not cost as much because items such as T-shirts and banners had already been paid for.
According to Cosatu’s constitution, the federation must hold its next congress within a month of the postponement. It also provides that a quorum will be deemed to have been reached at the second meeting, regardless of how many unions are represented.
On questions about unity, Shingange, who was cleared by the Labour Court on Wednesday to participate in Cosatu’s elections despite his suspension, told reporters that the federation remained confident the tripartite alliance would hold. This is despite affiliates taking different positions on who to support at the polls and in the race for Cosatu’s top leadership positions.
Shingange refused to divulge the reasons for his suspension, saying that he was bound by Nehawu’s internal regulations. He did reveal that the union informed Cosatu’s national office bearers before the congress about his suspension.
Labour Court ruling
The Labour Court judgment followed Nehawu advising the congress that Shingange could contest in the elections because it was an internal matter, and not a Cosatu matter.
According to the judgment – a copy of which has been seen by Inside Politics – on Friday 11 September 2026, the day that nominations closed, Nehawu general secretary Zola Saphetha sent Shingange a letter stating that the union’s national executive committee had resolved not to nominate him for any position in Cosatu.
This was after several unions, including the SA Municipal Workers’ Union, approached him to stand as president.
The letter, sent at 11pm, requested that he decline any nomination for any position made by any other Cosatu affiliates
“Understandably, Mr Shingange only read this e-mail the following morning, Saturday 12 September 2026. Before he could respond, at 9am, he received a notice of precautionary suspension dated 12 September 2026, also signed by the general secretary. The precautionary suspension was made purportedly in terms of clause 63.1 of Nehawu’s constitution,” the judgment reads.
Nehawu then wrote to Cosatu saying that Shingange was on precautionary suspension, and during this period, he would not be able to participate in union activities.
He has not yet been charged with any misconduct, and no detail is provided on the current stage of a disciplinary inquiry allegedly underway, or on when his can be expected to be charged.
“In the absence of any response from Nehawu clarifying to Mr Shingange that they were not preventing him from participating in the congress, and that they would not interfere in his nomination and potential election, it was reasonable to conclude from the above conduct that they were seeking to block Mr Shingage’s nominations and potential election,” the judgment reads.
Nehawu was ordered to pay the Shingange’s costs, including the costs of counsel.
Shingange told reporters on Wednesday that as far as he was concerned, he remained a member in good standing.
INSIDE POLITICS
