South African Communist Party

SACP congratulates Cosatu on a successful 15th National Congress

Wednesday, 14 October 2026:- The South African Communist Party (SACP) congratulates the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) for its successful 15th National Congress

We also congratulate the newly elected national officer bearers and call for all Cosatu affiliates to fully support them as they do their work moving forward. The new national leadership’s election comes at a critical moment for the working class and gives workers new impetus to the fight against the brutal onslaught of retrenchments, unemployment, rising cost of living, and attacks on collective bargaining. We have full confidence in the leadership’s collective commitment to deepen militant, revolutionary trade unionism and strengthen working-class unity in the struggle for socialism.

We also pay particular respect and tribute to Cosatu which, for the first time in its 40-year history, reached a significant milestone by producing a national leadership with women standing as a clear majority at the top. These are the fruits of relentless efforts by the federation and the workers of our country in the struggle towards gender equality. As the Party, we are encouraged by this historic revolutionary step. This is one of the significant objectives that the predecessors of our working-class movement envisioned when they did the hard work of organising workers in the past.

As the SACP, we commend delegates for choosing unity over division, particularly in light of the fact that this was a reconvening of the Congress since its adjournment last month. We urge workers to continue to work towards unity even as the Congress has been officially closed and build worker power from the ground up in their relentless fight to advance the interests of workers and the broader working class.

As the 2026 local government election approaches, we also welcome the Congress resolution encouraging members to remain in the revolutionary alliance, conscious of their class interests. This is an indication that delegates fully appreciated the important appeal from the SACP message of support delivered by General Secretary Comrade Solly Mapaila on Monday for Cosatu to remain united and not divide itself in the Party’s name but only be guided by revolutionary consciousness so that workers vote for their class interests.

We therefore reiterate our message that the Party needs a united Cosatu in the struggle to realise the Freedom Charter and build socialism.

Towards the 2026 local government elections, we reiterate our clear message: Build People’s Power Where We Live – For The Right To Work, Access To Land, Water, Electricity, Roads And Safety For All! In this regard, we reiterate our stance that the working class cannot afford to surrender the political field to capital and its political parties and yet still hope to defend itself only at the bargaining table. Workers must vote for their class interests on 4 November.

Moving forward, and in line with our joint programme for socialism, we invite the new Cosatu leadership to meet with the SACP to consolidate working-class demands that require both the SACP and Cosatu to take forward. The programme must not be limited to the respective leaders at national level but must also find expression on the ground as we seek to consolidate our struggle against the renewed neo-liberal offensive in defence of workers’ gains.

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ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA