Johannesburg - Cosatu has hit back at former ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, accusing him of political posturing, for saying the tripartite alliance was “dead”.
The federation’s spokesman, Sizwe Pamla, said in a statement that Motlanthe magnified issues and differences which have always existed in the alliance, even during his tenure at the helm of Cosatu and the ANC.
Pamla said the questions being raised by Motlanthe had been asked before.
“It is disquieting, therefore, that he has experienced this Damascus moment after vacating his leadership position in the ANC. He was the secretary-general of the ANC when the alliance experienced its most difficult period.
“At that time there were ANC leaders, like the late comrade Dumisani Makhaye and former president Thabo Mbeki, who were openly telling both Cosatu and the SACP to leave the alliance if they were unhappy with the actions of the ANC. He never saw that difficult moment as a signal that the alliance was dead,” explained Pamla.
Motlanthe said in a media interview that “Cosatu and the SA Communist Party, formerly independent ideological partners of the ANC, have lost their way and the alliance exists only in name.”
Cosatu said differences in the alliance could be expected because it comprised inter- class organisations which were driven by different philosophies and ideologies.
The federation’s reaction to the former president’s comments differed substantially from that of the ANC.
The party welcomed his comments, describing him as a “leader and voice of reason”.
While the ANC usually scolds leaders or party members who express discontent in the media, in a statement released on Monday, ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said: “The ANC embraces his forthrightness and willingness to provide leadership beyond formal structures of the organisation.”
Cosatu was not as forgiving, accusing Motlanthe of dishonesty over his utterances that the decision to expel the metalworkers union Numsa was “unheard of”.
“It’s got nothing to do with honesty. He could have raised issues, he could have intervened, he could have engaged. He is a former Cosatu leader himself and he had the opportunity to speak to Cosatu about the challenges. But he never did,” Pamla said.
He explained that other former leaders had made the effort to engage with Cosatu during the tumultuous period in the federation and alliance.
Meanwhile, political analyst Professor Steven Friedman disagreed with Cosatu’s argument, saying people needed to consider that he could have been the deputy president of the ANC and the country, yet he chose to take a stand.
“He chose to take a stand on principle,” Friedman said, adding that Motlanthe had been hinting at these views for some time in his speeches. “It was interesting how blunt and direct he was willing to be.
“The remark he made about not wanting to serve in that leadership group, he said it before, but not in this way,” Friedman added.
Motlanthe told Business Day he had turned down nomination for top posts in the ANC in 2012 because he didn’t want to serve with the current ANC leadership.
Friedman said Motlanthe’s views were important for public debate and understanding.
“It’s important when someone who was a former president of the country and deputy president of the ANC is willing to be so frank about this. He is thoughtful.
“ It is a considered analysis of the current state of the ANC,” Friedman pointed out.
The Star
* E-mail your opinion to [email protected] and we will consider it for publication or use our Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.