Johannesburg - Comments by Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini have “contaminated” a planned meeting to discuss the fate of general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, Numsa said on Monday.
“The reasons and motivation for the convening of the special CEC (central executive committee) on 14th August... (has) been contaminated and prejudged by the Cosatu president's public utterances,” the National Union of Metalworkers of SA said in a statement.
Numsa said Dlamini had “determined” that Vavi had brought the Congress of SA Trade Unions into disrepute before the CEC received a report on the matter.
The CEC meeting, which was scheduled for Wednesday, follows an admission by Vavi to an extra-marital affair with a married junior employee at Cosatu. The employee alleged that Vavi raped her, but she later withdrew her sexual harassment grievance against him.
Numsa held a special central committee meeting on Sunday to discuss Cosatu's upcoming CEC meeting.
It said after the meeting that it expected Dlamini to “engage the presidents of affiliates to rescue Cosatu from imploding”. However, he asked Numsa president Cedric Gina to convene the presidents.
This showed that Dlamini had “taken sides”.
“Hence Numsa’s position (is) that we cannot have confidence in such a leader.”
It called on the Cosatu national office bearers to cancel the special CEC meeting.
Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said he could not comment on the matter.
Numsa said it was clear that people within Cosatu who were “advocating the idea of a rupture” in the trade union federation might be correct.
“From Numsa’s perspective this rupture in Cosatu is between forces of capitalism and forces of socialism,” it said.
“Those who want comrade... Vavi out of Cosatu want a Cosatu which will be a 'toy telephone', a 'labour desk', a pro-capitalist Cosatu, and those who are defending comrade Vavi want a revolutionary socialist, anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist Cosatu,” it said.
Sapa