The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) stands firmly behind the upcoming Congress of South African Trade Unions May Day rallies scheduled for Friday, 01 May 2026, and calls on all its members across the country to attend these historic gatherings in their full numbers.
May Day is not merely a date on the calendar. It is a living symbol of the sacrifices, struggles, and victories of the international working class. It is rooted in the blood and sweat of workers who fought against exploitation, long working hours, unsafe conditions, and the denial of basic human dignity. From the Haymarket struggle in 1886 to the anti-apartheid labour movement in South Africa, May Day has always been a militant platform of resistance, unity, and renewal.
In South Africa, May Day carries a special revolutionary significance. It was the organised might of workers, united under formations such as COSATU, that played a decisive role in dismantling apartheid and advancing the National Democratic Revolution. It is through this unity that workers secured hard-won gains such as collective bargaining rights, improved working conditions, and the constitutional protections we enjoy today.
However, POPCRU emphasises that the struggle is far from over.
Today, workers are confronted with a new wave of challenges: austerity measures that erode wages, rising living costs, increasing medical aid burdens, unsafe working environments, and persistent unemployment that weakens the bargaining power of labour. In the criminal justice cluster, our members continue to operate under severe constraints — understaffing, overcrowding in correctional facilities, deteriorating infrastructure, and increasing risks to their lives.
This makes May Day 2026 not just a commemoration, but a call to action.
This year’s rallies must serve as a turning point in advancing the interests of workers and the broader working class. It must sharpen our resolve to defend collective bargaining, demand adequate resourcing of the public sector, and push back against policies that undermine worker dignity.
POPCRU therefore urges all its members, shop stewards, and leadership structures to mobilise decisively and attend the May Day rallies in their respective provinces as follows:
*Limpopo National Rally*
Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane
*Western Cape*
Mbekweni Sports Stadium, Paarl
*Free State*
Bultfontein Stadium, Bultfontein
*Eastern Cape*
Nangqa Jebe Hall, Gqeberha
BCM City Hall, kuGompo
Tobi Kula Indoor Sports Centre, Komani
Lusikisiki College Great Hall
*Gauteng*
Tsakane Stadium, Brakpan
*KwaZulu-Natal*
Curries Fountain Stadium, Durban
*Mpumalanga*
Kamagugu Stadium, Mbombela
*Northern Cape*
Galeshewe Open Air Arena, Kimberley
*North West*
Olympia Stadium, Rustenburg
All rallies will commence at 10h00.
POPCRU calls on its members to arrive in their regalia, disciplined, united, and ready to advance the programme of the working class. Let us fill these stadiums and halls with a single message: that workers will not retreat, workers will not be silenced, and workers will continue to fight for a just, equal, and transformed society.
May Day must once again echo with the militant voice of the working class.
Forward to May Day 2026!
Forward to worker unity and power!
An injury to one is an injury to all!
Issued by POPCRU
For more information contact Richard Mamabolo on 066 135 4349