Comrade Michael Madala Shingange joined the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) as a member in 1995 and was elected Chairperson of the Giyani Branch the same year. He held this position until 1998 when he was transferred to the Pietersburg Branch under the auspices of the Public Health Sector.

From 1999 to 2001, he served as Secretary of the Groothoek Hospital Branch, and then as Chairperson until 2002. That same year, he joined Lebowakgomo Hospital as Acting Secretary and later Chairperson until 2005. He then moved to Van Velden Hospital, where he served as Chairperson of the Tzaneen Branch.

In 2006, he served as Regional Deputy Chairperson of the Lowveld Region. By 2008, he was the Provincial Deputy Chairperson of Limpopo, and later served as Acting Chairperson of the province from 2009 to 2011; then subsequently as Provincial Chairperson until 2014.

At NEHAWU’s Special National Congress in June 2014, he became First Deputy President, and at the NEHAWU 11^th National Congress in June 2017, he was re-elected to the same position. In additional to his leadership roles, he represented workers in the Public Health Sector at the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council (PHSDSBC) as a Chief Negotiator and Vice-Chairperson of Labour until 2018.

In 2018, he was elected First Deputy President of COSATU at its 13^th National Congress. He was elected President of NEHAWU at its 12^th National Congress in November 2021.

Furthermore, he was re-elected as the 1^st Deputy President of COSATU at its 14^th National Congress in 2022 and serves as a Central Committee Member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Vice President of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), elected in March 2023.