By Zukile Majova
Members of the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu), an affiliate of Cosatu, protesting against cheaper "made in China" T-shirts, disrupted an address by Cosatu president Willie Madisha at the federation's 20th anniversary celebrations.
The otherwise dull proceedings at the Absa Stadium in Durban turned chaotic when Sactwu members found that Cosatu, which supports the Proudly South African campaign in its efforts to halt the dumping of cheap Chinese imports on the local market, was buying the very same products.
The rebellious crowd started throwing the shirts on the field, forming a pile that was collected by the federation's security marshals and handed to Cosatu's leadership.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi had to bring the proceedings to a halt and apologised to the disgruntled members as hundreds of people became rowdy.
"It has been brought to our attention that some of the T-shirts that have been made available to us were made in China.
"The South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union ... are the ones who are directly affected by the dumping of cheap products in our country and we apologise to them and our comrades elsewhere in the country," said Vavi.
He said the regrettable error "occurred in the rush of things where we requested some people to arrange for the sponsoring of the T-shirts, resulting in this serious mistake.
"Therefore, as the leadership of Cosatu, we would like to apologise to all those who are campaigning for the restoration of South African jobs."
It was not the first time that the affiliates of the two million-strong federation protested against it buying Chinese imports - they also did so during Cosatu's special congress in Johannesburg in 2000.
There, the delegates forced the matter to be discussed and a decision was taken that Cosatu would not support the importation of the goods.
In his address to the half empty stadium, Madisha said: "Momentous challenges face us as we move into the future.
"We are faced with an ever-changing labour market, with global attacks on labour rights, the growing confidence of capital which is today moving with no respect for borders of nation states, and Chinese economic imperialism."
Meanwhile Cosatu condemned media reports that its leaders, Vavi and Madisha, had met ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, who was reported to have taken them into his confidence and told them that he had consensual sexual relations with the woman who is accusing him of sexual molestation.
"Neither Cosatu nor any of its leaders were ever part of any meeting, at Nkandla or anywhere else, where it was agreed, as suggested in the Mail and Guardian that the ANC deputy president should not resign from his position until after the 20th anniversary celebrations Cosatu," the federation said in a statement.
"If there are people within the federation who are his genuine sources (which we doubt), it would be a clear case of charlatans hell bent on destroying the movement they claim to lead."
Zuma, who attended the celebrations, commended Cosatu and the SA Communist Party for being "guided by principle rather adopting positions that are fashionable, safe or comfortable" in major post-apartheid South Africa's debates.
"Because Cosatu is a key component of the ANC-led alliance, it has a right to be concerned about what is happening in the ANC, its leadership and where it is going.
"We recognise this and we appreciate it. I urge the leadership of Cosatu to continue to claim the ANC as your own and stand guard over our movement, never allowing the things we hold sacred to be sacrificed at any cost," said Zuma.