Labour federation Cosatu has abandoned its role as the voice of the workers in South Africa, leaving a vacuum which could soon force it to fight for its relevance.
This is according to political analyst Professor Steven Friedman, who spoke to Independent Media after the conclusion of Cosatu’s 12th national congress this week.
“The movement has lost its way, to a certain extent. It may start to find its way back. The Cosatu congress confirmed what we knew already. There will be a new federation (formed by expelled Cosatu affiliate Numsa). The importance (of that) is that they have to compete with each other, they have to take workers more seriously.”
Friedman said the amount of time invested in political discussions, while documents including the organisational report were not fully engaged at the Cosatu congress, clarified the federation’s priorities.
“To what extent do they represent working people any more? At the moment there’s a gap between the leaders and membership.
“There are so many allegations. Some are sentenced to prison, others (put) on trial. There’s a situation where you can’t assume what people say at Cosatu congresses is what workers are thinking,” said Friedman.
The sentiments were challenged by Cosatu’s biggest union, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu).
Its first vice-president, Michael Shingange, said Cosatu is and has always been the voice of the workers.
He also disagreed with expressions of doubt from some quarters that delegates had failed to discuss crucial workers’ issues.
He said they had dedicated a lot of time on the socio-economic report on Wednesday, which he stressed involved the real bread-and-butter issues of the workers.
“It’s not true we spent a lot of time talking politics. People don’t want us to talk politics. The moment we do, people think we are dumping other issues. Cosatu has always been about politics. It’s not something new,” said Shingange.
He added that the federation had to be political to focus on broader policy decisions by the state and employers and strategise on how to assist affiliates. So it was only natural that Cosatu would need to understand the political climate in which its affiliates are operating.
“They (critics) want workers to be apolitical so that they can trample on their rights,” he said.
Friedman said a reprieve for those workers who may be silently in protest about the state of their unions was the emergence of the new federation led by metalworkers’ union Numsa. He said the existence of an alternative would be good for workers.
“Part of the problem is that they took their members for granted. Most of the people who had a different opinion have left,” he said.
Another Cosatu affiliate, the Food and Allied Workers’ Union, said Cosatu had shifted from what it was to something else.
The sentiments, however, were not shocking given that the union has been flirting with the idea of being outside of the federation for some time, in protest at what it described as disregard for the federation’s constitution.
“We are no longer truly living up to the expectations of workers. It’s now about the dominance of numbers. Quantity has taken over quality. It’s a sad day,” said general secretary Katishi Masemola.
By quantity he was referring to the use of votes to settle heated debates as seen at the recent congress. The practice is provided for in the Cosatu constitution.
Friedman expressed a similar sentiment to Masemola’s, raising doubt about whether delegates, most of whom are shop stewards representing various branches or regions of unions, had expressed their members’ desire.
“Most delegates at the Cosatu congress did not go there to represent working people. You go there so that you can impress the union leadership, so that they promote you and, if they do, you might get your name on an election list,” he said.
However, Shingange said there had always been competition in the sectors where they organise, and the hype about the new federation posing serious competition to Cosatu unions was misguided.
Sunday Independent