Johannesburg - The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called on President Jacob Zuma to step down.
The union said yesterday that it had engaged its structures on Zuma and the popular view was that he should resign as a result of a lack of leadership and deteriorating relations within the government.
Read also: Nehawu calls for Zuma to resign
CWU general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala said: “Whether his term has seen an advancement of our historic mission or represents a regress of that perspective is a view that we will communicate publicly once our structures have had an opportunity to engage on this bone of contention.”
The CWU call comes amid a groundswell of voices in the union movement that have openly called for Zuma to go. Last month, Cosatu’s biggest affiliate, the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), called on Zuma to step down because of poor leadership. Nehawu said it could no longer be denied that Zuma’s leadership in government was untenable.
The growing calls for Zuma to step down have seen Cosatu affiliates adopting opposite stances, with some advocating for his immediate resignation while others emphasise a smooth transition from Zuma to his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa. So far Cosatu has refused to publicly express its views on the president.
But next week the trade union federation is expected to hold a three-day central executive committee (CEC) meeting where Zuma’s fate is also expected to feature high on the agenda. Cosatu spokesman Sizwe Pamla yesterday confirmed that Zuma would be discussed at the meeting as the federation’s special CEC in September had failed to agree on his future.
“We do not have a position at the moment, but we have mandated our affiliates to engage their structures and bring their positions to the CEC,” he said. The CWU is one of Cosatu’s smallest affiliates with just more than 27 000 members.
The union said former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on state capture, which fingered Zuma, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Des van Rooyen and his mineral resources counterpart, Mosebenzi Zwane, should be subjected to a commission of inquiry.
Tshabalala said should the commission agree with Madonsela’s observations, those implicated should be charged with corruption.
“Facts are glaring before us that the (ANC-led tripartite) alliance and the country are limping from one crisis to another, from the days we were told (that) swimming pools are fire pools, to chaos in Parliament, (the) Marikana massacre, collapse of the post office, the ANC loosing grip on its control of major metros, #FeesMustFall campaign to the recent public protectors’ damning report,” he said.
“It makes it difficult for any of our revolutionary forces to focus on real issues, such as the triple challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty.”
The calls for Zuma to go have also received support by prominent businessmen, such as AngloGold Ashanti chairman Sipho Pityana and Sibanye Gold chief executive Neal Froneman.
Tshabalala said how workers chose leadership preferences should be guided by their class interest rather than the ANC’s succession culture.
He said workers had to review their positions as they had given the ANC a blank cheque in both the Polokwane and Mangaung national conferences in which Zuma was elected to the presidency of the party.
Out of patience
“Of course the prevailing material conditions dictate that we should not pronounce for the sake of pronouncing.
“But whomever we will rally behind must be cautious of the fact that we, the industrial proletariat, have run out of patience with empty promises because the reality is that we have lost substantial numbers in companies we are organising in,” he said.
“The biggest loss is coming from Telkom, which is a partly owned state parastatal that should have been in the forefront advancing the agenda of a developmental state.”
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