Johannesburg - Zwelinzima Vavi is likely to be
elected the general secretary of the new Labour federation South African
Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), says National Union of Metalworkers SA
(Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim.
Vavi is the former general secretary of Cosatu and was
supported by Numsa as he faced expulsion from Cosatu in 2015.
He was later expelled, along with the country's biggest
union Numsa.
Vavi is the steering committee chair for SAFTU and has
done massive groundwork which according Jim, makes him a likely candidate to be
the federation's general secretary.
"Zwelimzima Vavi is likely to the general secretary
as he done lots of groundwork and has been working with us to do this
work," said Jim.
Jim said he would not stand for any position in the
federation.
"I'm a back bencher, I will not stand. We will put
together a leadership team that will be on the ground. We will recruit workers
and attend to their problems," said Jim.
Read also: WATCH: The importance of a new federation
Those part of SAFTU have set themselves the challenge of
recruiting workers that don't belong to any union - and those workers make up
70 percent of the country's workforce.
They will also be independent from political influence
according to Vavi, and will not fall into the trap of losing touch with workers
on the ground an issue that Vavi has accused Cosatu of doing.
Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim discussing plans for the federation.
Hundreds of union members, who form part of the founding
24 unions, are in attendance at congress including prominent unionist Jay
Naidoo.
Over the next few days members will have to come up with
a final name for the federation, its constitution, logo and elect its
leadership.
POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT BUREAU
@ZintleMahlati