The Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu)15th national congress, which was meant to deliberate on the worsening conditions of workers, collapsed before it could begin amid suggestions that ANC and SACP factional battles played a leading role in the trade union federation's failure to start proceedings.
But Cosatu leaders, including incumbent president Zingiswa Losi and first deputy president Mike Shingange, front-runner to succeed her, jointly dismissed suggestions, during a media briefing on Wednesday, that political interference had caused the collapse of the congress at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.
The ructions come as the tripartite alliance, a 30-year partnership between the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP), and Cosatu, is facing significant strain.
Unhappy with the ANC partnering with centre-right parties in the Government of National Unity, the SACP has put up its own candidates to contest the November 4 local government elections and will not support the ANC as it has traditionally done for the past three decades.
At the now halted Cosatu congress, the trade union federation was meant to decide whether it would give its backing to the ANC or the SACP for the elections.
The four-day conference was planned to start on Monday but stalled due to disputes over delegate credentials and Shingange’s eligibility to contest for positions after his union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), suspended him on the eve of the conference.
Shingange, who is also Nehawu president, approached the Labour Court to challenge his union's decision to block his candidacy and the court cleared him to contest.
In a letter seen by The National dated September 11, 2026, Nehawu General Secretary Zola Saphetha stated that the union would not nominate Shingange for any position at the congress, adding: “If you are already nominated by any other union, you are kindly advised to withdraw or decline.”
However, addressing more than 1,800 delegates on Tuesday, Saphetha struck a different tone, saying the union would protect Shingange’s constitutional right to stand and contest.
He appealed for Shingange’s precautionary suspension to be dealt with autonomously by Nehawu.
Shingange is said to be aligned to the SACP and backed by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu), the South African Policing Union (Sapu), the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), Sasbo - the finance-sector union and other unions.
The other faction includes the South African Democratic Teachers' Union (Sadtu), the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu), the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) and the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu).
On Wednesday, Sadtu, Nehawu, Popcru and Sactwu, which were lobbying for Losi to be elected secretary-general, called a media briefing that was abruptly cancelled without explanation.
Shingange declined to comment on why the four unions reportedly campaigning against his presidential bid called off their media briefing, saying they should be contacted directly.
Political analyst Sandile Swana expressed the view that the ANC and SACP politics played a role in the developments at the conference.
“They are now divided over political issues. More specifically, they are divided over ANC factions,” he said.
Swana traced the division back to the ANC's class of 1996, accusing the neoliberals in charge of the tripartite alliance of marginalising the left since then.
He said Cosatu had drifted from its mandate to promote industrialisation and employment, and had been part of the ANC's neoliberal leadership since 1996 until now, "which has destroyed jobs."
"Unions become powerful to improve the living conditions of the masses under conditions of full employment, rapid GDP growth, strong urbanisation and strong industrialisation," he said.
He said the tripartite alliance was known for dirty tricks around conferences and elections, where candidates for top positions could be locked out of the congress and only offered an explanation after they had already lost the position.
On Tuesday, delegates pointed out that the congress failed to start within Cosatu's constitutionally stipulated three-hour window on Monday amid disputes over credentials, forcing the central committee into urgent closed-door talks. Several unions pushed for an adjournment, arguing that continuing would violate the constitution. According to reports from the venue, some unions had chosen to show their solidarity with the ANC or SACP at the conference with the use of signs.
Losi refused to attribute the collapse of the conference to SACP and ANC politics, saying: “Influence happens naturally everywhere, whether it is a conference of the SACP on its own, a conference of the ANC or any other organisation. But it is not something that you can indeed confirm that (it is) the reason that things did not go well...” she said.
She announced that the congress would be convened within 30 days in line with the federation's constitution.
Losi said the congress was adjourned because unions withheld their credentials past the three-hour mark, and as a result it could not form a quorum.
On the possibility of a tripartite alliance split, Shingange said he did not expect one after the upcoming congress.
He also stressed that the conference collapse was “not because there was a contestation about the ANC and the SACP”.
On the question of whether the federation would support SACP or ANC going into the municipal polls, Shingange said “that matter has not yet been arising in the course of the congress”.
In a recent interview, SACP deputy general secretary Madala Masuku said Cosatu should have little difficulty choosing between backing the SACP and the ANC ahead of the November elections, arguing that the trade union federation must consider the interests of workers and which party best serves working-class interests.
ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe, who was due to deliver a message of support at the Cosatu congress, called for unity in the federation, emphasising that the ANC had no intention of interfering in its internal matters.
rapula.moatshe@thenational.co.za