Amy Musgrave
Group Labour Editor
THE outlines and the timeline of the breakup of Cosatu became clearer yesterday as axed general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and his allies held a defiant press conference.
Vavi was making his first public appearance since the federation’s special national congress took the decision to expel him on Monday night.
He was flanked by the leaders of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu), the Democratic Nurses Organisation of SA, the SA Football Players Union, the SA State and Allied Workers Union, the SA Commercial and Catering Workers Union and metalworkers union Numsa, who were booted out of Cosatu last year.
Missing from the rebel group was the leadership of the SA Municipal Workers Union. They did an about-turn a few months ago and became devout members of the anti-Vavi group, but have been challenged inside their own union for changing direction without allegedly seeking a fresh mandate from the members who ordered them to support Vavi in the first place.
A rebel group calling itself Save Our Samwu (SOS) went to yesterday’s briefing, claiming to be the true voice of Samwu workers. SOS represents some 139 union local and regional leaders who have been systematically purged from the union for demanding an external audit to probe the disappearance of R136 million from its coffers.
The six, plus the Samwu group and Numsa, now appear to be the core of a mooted breakaway from the 30-year-old labour federation. But they stressed yesterday that they would not be taking such momentous decisions without first speaking to their members.
“I got hundreds of WhatsApp text messages from members (after Vavi was expelled), asking ‘do we stay or leave’. I didn’t answer them (except to tell them) we would prepare a report,” said Fawu boss Katishi Masemola.
Vavi himself emphasised that all decisions about what should be done would be in the hands of workers, not the people around the table. He repeated several times that they were not forming an alternative federation.
“Members, the ball now moves to your court. We have tried to do everything we can (to save Cosatu). We have not been successful. We will ask our members what to do.”
However, if the men and women around the table were reporting the mood of their own members accurately, it is likely that most of them will favour charting a different course.
They have on too many occasions railed against the “capture” of Cosatu by a conservative elite hell-bent of turning it into a “labour desk” and conveyor belt between the senior echelons of labour, the state and capital. Moreover, they have consistently claimed this to be the analysis of ordinary workers on the ground.
“We view the developments in Cosatu as being political. The agenda is about capturing Cosatu for the interests of capital,” said Thabo Magalane, of the CWU. Magalane said the CWU still needed to “deal” with the expulsion “in our structures”.
Despite the reticence to commit to a future direction, the dissident group did commit to a programme of action over the next few weeks. The group have met every evening since the dramatic events of Monday, and revealed plans for a joint national executive meeting later this month.
This meeting has been brought forward, made more urgent by the Vavi expulsion, the admission into Cosatu of a union to replace Numsa, even though there were claims that constitutional stipulations were met, and concerns that Cosatu will not follow through on agreeing to hold a special national congress.
Their programme will culminate in a general workers’ summit later in the year.
Meanwhile, the African News Agency reports that former Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven, after announcing his resignation in Joburg yesterday, said there is no freedom of expression within the organisation. “No one can continue in an organisation that destroys freedom of speech such as Cosatu,” said Craven.