Zingiswa Losi re-elected for 2nd term as Cosatu president

Zingiswa Losi has been re-elected as the Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) president for a second term in office.

Losi was elected during the trade union federation’s 14th national congress where she ran uncontested.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) announced the results on Thursday afternoon, where close to 2,000 delegates voted, declaring them free and fair.

Mike Shingange was elected first deputy president, while Duncan Luvuno was elected as the second deputy.

Freda Oosthuizen was elected as Cosatu treasurer.

The only contested position was for deputy general secretary where Gerald Thwala won by a landslide victory against Moses Lekota; almost 1,200 delegates voted in favour of Thwala, while 500 voted for Lekota.

Solly Phetoe took over as general secretary after Bheki Ntshalintshali predictably failed to make the cut.

The IEC said 60 delegates abstained, eight ballots were spoilt, while one ballot was cancelled.

Losi took to the podium shortly after her re-election to give clear marching orders to delegates.

Zingiswa Losi set to contest for 2nd term as Cosatu president

Incumbent Cosatu president, Zingiswa Losi, is set to contest for a second term when the trade union federation holds its 14th national congress this week.

The programme is set to kick off on Monday morning, with a presentation of the political report.

While policy discussions will be key on the agenda for the week, the leadership race is also set to take centre stage.

Zingiswa Losi will start the week with aspirations of a second term, after serving as the first female president for the past four years.

Losi was first elected in 2018.

Her bid for the presidency was threatened with some confusion about which union she belongs to – both Popcru and Satawu claimed her as their own.

Popcru has since confirmed Losi is a registered member of the police union.

It also appears that she still has the backing of several affiliated unions.

Her base, Popcru, which will come into the congress with close to 200 delegates, has vowed to vote in her favour.

A total of over 2,000 delegates are expected to vote.

The position of general secretary is also set to be hotly contested, with Bheki Ntshalintshali tipped to vacate the post.