NUM wishes COSATU a resounding and decisive 15th national congress amid escalating working-class crises

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) conveys its revolutionary best wishes to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) as the federation convenes its historic 15th National Congress, scheduled for 14–17 September 2026 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.

Led by delegations from across all eleven of its regions, the NUM stands fully mobilized and prepared to participate actively, robustly, and progressively in this gathering. As an affiliate, our unwavering conviction remains that COSATU must continuously reaffirm its core founding principles: organizing the unorganized, defending hard-won gains, and building absolute working-class unity. This congress presents an indispensable opportunity for deep political introspection and renewed militancy to serve workers across every sector of the economy.

The National Congress remains the supreme workers’ parliament. It is here that thousands of delegates will confront the lived realities of shop-floor exploitation and community hardship, formulating militant resolutions to drive the federation's battle plan far beyond the conference floor.

Crucially, this 15th National Congress meets against the backdrop of systemic socioeconomic devastation:

• An unsustainable expanded unemployment rate of 43.8%;
• A relentless cost-of-living crisis eroding the purchasing power of households;
• Widespread, systemic retrenchments across key industrial sectors; and
• Entrenched poverty and deepening wage inequality.

The NUM sounds an urgent alarm over the aggressive onslaught on permanent employment. Mining houses across South Africa are weaponizing Section 189 restructuring processes under the Labor Relations Act as a deliberate ploy to shed permanent jobs in favor of precarious subcontracted labor. Simultaneously, in the metal and manufacturing sectors, employers are exploiting production learners—utilizing them as cheap, dispensable labor to displace permanent personnel under the guise of training.

The NUM unequivocally rejects the gradual privatization and liberalization of South Africa's electricity grid. Electricity remains a strategic national asset. We call on government to halt all steps toward market liberalization until a comprehensive social compact is reached with labor and key stakeholders. In addition to our ongoing legal proceedings, should government continue to proceed with reforms that threaten public ownership, undermine Eskom's strategic mandate, or compromise workers' rights without genuine consultation, the NUM stands ready to deploy all available constitutional and organizational measures—including worker mobilization—to defend energy sovereignty, public ownership, and workers' livelihoods.

While the President Cyril Ramaphosa asserts that establishing an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO) aims to foster competition, attract investment, and enhance energy security, the NUM remains deeply concerned. The NUM firmly maintains that restructuring must not come at the expense of jobs, working conditions, collective bargaining rights, or public ownership. Eskom workers have carried the burden of keeping the grid stable, and their livelihoods must be protected.

The NUM will use this workers' parliament to demand decisive collective resistance, robust policy interventions, and uncompromising campaigns to halt employer offensive measures, defend permanent jobs, and advance the socialist transformation of our society.

We wish our federation, COSATU, a unified, militant, and successful 15th National Congress.

For more information and media inquiries, please contact:

Livhuwani Mammburu, NUM National Spokesperson, 083 809 3257
Luphert Chilwane, NUM Media Officer, 083 809 3255

The National Union of Mineworkers
7 Rissik Street.
Cnr Frederick Johannesburg
Tel: 011 377 2111 Cell: 083 809 3257
Twitter: @Num_Media

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