Durban - Cosatu in KwaZulu-Natal has outlined the reasons it feels strongly that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa should succeed President Jacob Zuma at next year’s ANC elective conference.
The country’s biggest federation also warned those opposed to Ramaphosa taking the reins to stop their insults.
The endorsement was first announced by the labour movement’s national leadership late last month.
Addressing the media in Durban on Thursday, Cosatu provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize emphasised that Ramaphosa “can be a suitable president”, as opposed to the ANC Youth League’s choice, AU chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
It is believed that the ANC in KZN, the Free State and President Zuma were backing Dlamini-Zuma to take over the position during the party’s elective conference in December next year.
“We must emphasise this point that our view to also convince the ANC to consider comrade Cyril Ramaphosa is based on the fact that we are also worried about the unity of the movement,” said Mkhize.
Mkhize said sidelining Ramaphosa would divide the ANC because it was not its culture to prevent a sitting deputy president from progressing to the highest position in the party.
“What are you doing to the unity of the movement, especially when you have not come to us to say, we have a problem with this comrade?
“When we fought for comrade Jacob Zuma we were actually protecting that tradition,” he said.
He then went into Ramaphosa's struggle, leadership and business credentials, which he said spoke volumes about his ability to lead the party, and ultimately the country.
He said the fact that he was the founding general-secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers meant that he had workers’ interests at heart as he “has a good understanding of the plight of workers”.
“Although there are a number of challenges in the constitution, we must say that our constitution is still regarded in many parts of the world as the best constitution. He is the main contributor to that constitution,” he said.
He lashed out at those who want to exclude Ramaphosa because he is a wealthy businessman.
“He has a balance of understanding what workers need, and what business needs, and what the government is supposed to be doing,” said Mkhize.
He said Ramaphosa was initially not interested in going into business until the ANC deployed him.
“The ANC has always advocated that struggle activists must infiltrate our economy, and we must be able to deploy people into the economy as part of transforming the economy.”
Mkhize said Cosatu did not have a problem with Dlamini-Zuma.
“We are also not on a mission of trying to go all-out to discredit any individual leader of the movement. It is our strong view as Cosatu that comrade Ramaphosa can make a good president,” he said.