Johannesburg - A united Congress of SA Trade Unions was important for a strengthened tripartite alliance which also includes the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the African National Congress (ANC).
“United we will confront any threat posed by counter-revolutionary forces, divided we shall fall in one heap like a house of cards,” African National Congress chairwoman and Speaker of National Assembly Baleka Mbete told Cosatu delegates at its special national congress on Tuesday.
“You dare not fail…there is no room for failure. History will never forgive you if you fail, Cosatu must emerge united and victorious,” she said to an applause from delegates.
The country’s biggest trade union federation is holding a special national congress, amid its deepest crisis since its formation in 1985. The federation has been marred by deep divisions and factionalism that reached boiling point after the expulsion of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA and former Cosatu secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
Mbete added that that the alliance partners were disturbed by the divisions within Cosatu.
“None of the alliance partners and its membership can take pride in the disunity threatening to tear our beloved federation apart.’
“When Cosatu hurts, the ANC feels the pain too.”
The congress was expected to next debate its document on building unity and cohesion within Cosatu.
ANA