Cosatu elects Mike Shingange as president and opens the door to campaigning for other left parties
Mail & Guardian reported that Mike Madala Shingange was elected Cosatu president, defeating Mabutho Cele, as the federation announced its new national leadership. Daily Maverick wrote that Shingange, after the elective conference reconvened, called for unity with the ANC and the SACP while allowing members to campaign for several left-leaning parties in the coming elections, and it headlined this as Cosatu breaking with exclusive ANC support to back a left-wing “super pact”. DailyDrop has seen no written resolution, no vote count and no list of the other office-bearers. Daily Maverick separately reported that longtime ANC supporters in Ekurhuleni told Deputy President Paul Mashatile, back from illness, to “act right”, and SABC News reported that Mashatile urged workers to be patient amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Cosatu is the ANC’s largest union ally and part of the governing alliance with the SACP. If it lets members campaign for other left parties, the ANC could lose some of the organisation it has relied on in the weeks before the 4 November vote.
If you belong to a Cosatu-affiliated union, your new president will lead the federation in talks over wages, jobs and the cost of living, and will shape which parties members are encouraged to work for.
Those who welcome the shift say workers are better served by a federation that is free to back more than one left party when the ANC disappoints them.
Others point out that Shingange still called for unity with the ANC and the SACP, so the change may be one of tone rather than a break.
Daily Maverick’s headline is stronger than its own report, which has Shingange urging unity while letting members campaign elsewhere. Wait for a written Cosatu resolution and the full list of office-bearers before calling it a break.
DailyDrop South Africa edition No. 11 · Morning · THU., OCT. 15, 2026