SAFTU CONGRATULATES PRESIDENT LULA ON HIS VICTORY: A PEOPLE DEFEND GAINS THEY CAN SEE – 26 October 2026 The South African Federation of Trade Unions congratulates President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his re-election and salutes the Brazilian workers, poor people, Indigenous communities and all those who mobilised to defend their democratic and social gains. Lula won 51.8% of the vote, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro by nearly 4.4 million votes. His victory is a setback for the right-wing forces seeking to consolidate power across Latin America and bring the region closer to the agenda of US President Donald Trump. It gives Brazil the opportunity to continue advancing an independent voice for the Global South.  This election was not simply a vote for a political personality. It was a struggle over land, livelihood, dignity and the direction of development. Brazil’s Indigenous communities had particular reason to fear a Bolsonaro victory. Lula’s government restored the process of recognising Indigenous territories, established a Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and appointed Indigenous leaders to senior positions. By November 2025, his administration had approved 20 territories covering about 2.5 million hectares. These advances are incomplete, and Indigenous organisations continue to demand faster demarcation and stronger protection. But the return of territorial recognition gave communities something concrete to defend.  Land reform also matters to Brazil’s landless rural workers and small farmers. Lula’s government says 266,000 families have been included in its agrarian reform programme during this term through new settlements, recognition of land claims and regularisation. The Landless Workers’ Movement continues to criticise the pace of reform, while insisting that access to land is essential to democracy and food sovereignty.  Workers and poor families also had material gains to defend. Between 2022 and 2024, about 17.3 million people moved out of poverty. In 2024 alone, 1.9 million people moved out of extreme poverty, while 24.4 million left severe food insecurity. Brazil’s employed population reached a record 103.3 million in 2024, and the number of unemployed people fell by 1.1 million from the previous year. Lula’s government raised the minimum wage in real terms and introduced income-tax relief for people earning up to R$5,000 a month. These gains did not end inequality or insecurity, but they were tangible improvements that ordinary people could see in their lives.  The contrast with South Africa is stark: Brazil: gains people mobilised to defend South Africa: setbacks and growing demoralisation Indigenous territorial recognition resumed, with new areas approved and Indigenous people given a place in government. Agrarian reform included hundreds of thousands of families, though movements continue to demand more. Land restitution and redistribution remain painfully slow. The promise of land reform has not transformed ownership or rural livelihoods at the scale required. About 17.3 million people moved out of poverty between 2022 and 2024; 24.4 million left severe food insecurity. Poverty and hunger remain widespread. SAFTU has cited estimates that 17 to 20 million people skip meals daily, while unemployment and inequality remain entrenched. Employment reached a record 103.3 million in 2024; unemployment fell by 1.1 million that year. Mass unemployment, deindustrialisation and retrenchments continue, while many people rely on insecure and precarious work. Real minimum-wage increases and tax relief for lower earners put more income into workers’ hands. Austerity and rising living costs erode working-class incomes and constrain the public services people depend on. People could point to gains in land, food security, income and employment while demanding that Lula do more. The ANC’s support fell from 69.7% in 2004 to 40.18% in 2024. In 2024, only 16.29 million people voted out of a voting-age population of roughly 40 million.