Cosatu, a key ally of the struggling ANC, said it would be up to delegates to decide which party to support during the much-anticipated local government elections in 2026.
This as another ally, the SACP, has taken a decision to contest elections under its own banner as it has grown increasingly critical of the ANC’s track record in government and has spoken out against its lackadaisical approach in dealing with service delivery, malfeasance, maladministration and systemic looting in the public service.
Cosatu and the SACP, as members of the ANC-led tripartite alliance, have traditionally supported the ANC during elections, using their grassroots structures to campaign for the party.
Cosatu leadership urges loyalty
During a campaign trail ahead of the general election in 2024, Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi cautioned workers against turning their backs on the ANC, saying the socioeconomic gains the party had presided over would be reversed if it were voted out of power.
The ANC electoral support plunged to 40% during the 2024 polls and forced it to invite opposition parties to form a government of national unity (GNU).
Shingange highlights internal debate
Cosatu deputy president Mike Shingange spoke to Business Day on the sidelines of the four-day central committee meeting in Benoni, east of Johannesburg.
When asked if Cosatu would support the ANC or the SACP, or would allow its members to decide for themselves, he said: “Well, that matter is a matter that is going to be decided at this meeting. Once the report has been tabled the affiliates are going to discuss, but all we are saying is that whatever decision is going to be taken ... must not be to the detriment of the unity of the alliance that has served SA so well for a long time.”
Unions push and pull within Cosatu
Shingange is also president of Cosatu’s largest affiliate, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu).
During the Cosatu national congress in September 2022, Nehawu, together with the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), called on Cosatu to ditch the ANC and rally behind the SACP in the 2024 election, accusing the ANC of undermining workers and failing to implement tripartite alliance programmes.
The four unions account for more than 600,000 of Cosatu’s estimated membership of 1.6-million.
In December 2023, however, Nehawu made a U-turn and said it would use its structures to campaign for an “outright majority victory” for the ANC, arguing its new position was meant to defend “the gains of our revolution”. The NUM recently took a decision to support the SACP during the upcoming municipal elections.
Delegates to decide ahead of 2026 elections
On Monday, Shingange said whatever decision delegates to the meeting took, “we are going to be very meticulous as Cosatu ... to ensure that our discussions do not end up dividing us as Cosatu, because workers stand a lot to lose”.
He added: “Whenever we decide which party we are supporting in the elections, or which leader, in which political party, it’s always a function of meetings like this or congress. Fortunately, we have a congress coming up in September 2026, even before the [municipal] elections take place.”
In her keynote address to delegates on Monday, Losi appealed to the ANC and SACP to “not divide the alliance”.
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