Johannesburg - Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Tuesday night broke his silence on the crisis facing the federation.
In a letter to Cosatu’s 19 affiliates, Vavi said the expulsion of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) would make it impossible to heal current divisions and threatened to destroy the federation.
“The risk we are facing is crystal clear – that we are in imminent danger of destroying what was painstakingly built through the blood and sweat of workers for many decades. I believe that there will be no winners if we allow the federation to fracture permanently,” Vavi writes.
This is the first time that Vavi, himself facing an uncertain future in the federation since Numsa’s ousting, has spoken officially on the matter.
He wrote the correspondence as his staunchest ally, Numsa, received its expulsion letter on Tuesday.
Vavi missed a media briefing on Tuesday called by his fellow national office-bearers to defend Numsa’s expulsion. The official explanation was that he was consulting his lawyers over a defamation suit he faces.
A source close to the process said Vavi had refused to sign or deliver Numsa’s official letter of excommunication, and would not take part in any public communication on it. His deputy, Bheki Ntshalintshali, signed it.
Vavi’s letter, sent to affiliates and all Cosatu leaders late on Tuesday, confirms this.
“From that point of view I plead with you to understand that I will not be able to defend a decision that I honestly believe is contradicting and undermining organised workers and broader working-class unity, a decision that will have momentous implications for years to come,” he writes.
In the two-page letter, Vavi makes another appeal for unity to stem the permanent fracture of the 2.2 million-strong federation.
“I have to say that I view the decisions that were taken as ones that could destroy what we have jointly built for so many years. In advancing this I am not in any way suggesting that there should be no discipline in the organisation. I am advancing this argument with only one consideration that has weighed against all other considerations – what is in the best interest of the federation at this moment.”
However, Vavi’s open refusal to abide by the Numsa decision could further isolate him from the rest of the Cosatu national leadership, who took a hardline stance on Tuesday and warned critics of their actions to “stay off Cosatu”.
The letter could provide a fresh pretext to discipline and possibly suspend him from his position.
Whatever Vavi’s future, the cracks continue to widen in Cosatu and its affiliates. The Eastern Cape region of the SA Municipal Workers Union has issued a statement rejecting Numsa’s expulsion.
“The defence of Cosatu includes in our view defending Numsa, as we remain opposed to the dismissal of Numsa from Cosatu because they also seek to defend the soul of the federation,” said provincial secretary Siphiwo Ndunyana.
Three of Samwu’s four representatives voted to expel Numsa during Friday’s heated central executive meeting. Some in the union say this was against the instructions of Samwu workers.
Vavi concluded with a warning that Cosatu risked “committing suicide by jumping off the cliff” if it did not pull back from its current path. “There must be an alternative to this.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Numsa received its expulsion letter.
The three-paragraph document gets straight to the point: “As you are aware, a decision was taken at the CEC meeting on Friday, November 7, 2014 to expel Numsa from the federation… Numsa has the right to appeal against the decision in terms of provisions of clause 14.3 of the federation’s constitution.”
And it’s not only the labour federation that’s divided – so are the ANC and SACP, which, together with Cosatu, make up the tripartite alliance.
Ntshalintshali and Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini attempted to play down Vavi’s absence on Tuesday.
“The general secretary has a pending matter that you are aware of. Those papers… have to be served,” said Ntshalintshali.
Vavi is being sued for allegedly defaming a junior co-worker he had sex with at work. She is also suing Numsa and Cosatu.
Numsa’s expulsion has ripped Cosatu apart. Seven of the trade federation’s affiliates are threatening mutiny.
They and Numsa are planning to go to court to force the federation to hold a special national congress.
If agreed, the agenda to that meeting could include voting for new Cosatu leaders and changing the political direction of the federation.
Earlier this week, the seven unions announced that they would also no longer take part in the CEC, describing it as a “slaughterhouse”.
Ntshalintshali said Cosatu had not received any correspondence from the seven unions and could therefore not comment on their threats.
On their calls for a special congress, Dlamini denied he was opposed to the meeting.
A third of the federation’s affiliates called for the special congress more than a year ago, but it has not taken place.
The Star
* Read Vavi's letter