Cape Town - The working class must unite and put the interests of the collective first, Western Cape African National Congress secretary Songezo Mjongile said on Tuesday.
“There are a number of forces inside and outside who are dying to see it (the liberation movement) implode,” he said at the joint National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) shop steward council in Cape Town.
“Largely, it has got to do with the fact that some of us have put our interests above the interests of the people.”
He said former president Nelson Mandela was speaking from the grave to remind workers to renew the party's founding values and unite within the alliance.
This call was echoed by provincial Congress of SA Trade Unions secretary Tony Ehrenreich, who acknowledged divisions within the congress and said unity was key.
Mjongile said it was important to solve problems from within organisations, rather than speak out to the media or cause trouble. As an example, he used the much-criticised cost incurred to taxpayers with the upgrade of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.
“These are mistakes of our democracy. You can't run away from that... In correcting them, we must not throw the baby out with the water,” Mjongile said.
“You don't disown your own because there are problems. You sit with your family and correct your problems.”
Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini was expected to address delegates later on Tuesday. - Sapa