Durban - Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says he has accepted the censure of Corruption Watch over a well-publicised sexual relationship he had with a married, 26-year-old subordinate.
“I have accepted that censure, humiliating as that may be. I am not above the discipline of our organisations,” Vavi said at a Cosatu meeting in East London.
Vavi is a member of the Corruption Watch board.
He admitted to having had an affair with a junior employee of Cosatu, after a complaint of rape was filed against him and later withdrawn.
The censure is a formal and permanently recorded reprimand for Vavi’s actions in the situation.
Vavi said: “I am compromised because of my own regrettable transgressions, which have caused immense harm not only to my family, but my standing as a working-class leader, whose focused, forthright and honest leadership was, until this point, questioned by only a few in society.”
The board members said Vavi had been questioned about how the woman had been appointed by Cosatu and the nature of his relationship with her.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said on Sunday that Corruption Watch had done the right thing in censuring Vavi. “It was better than ignoring it. It indicates no leader would be immune to reprimand.”
Fikeni said it was also better for Vavi as the scandal could have been used to expel him from Cosatu. He said expelling Vavi would be a political disaster as Cosatu had internal problems with its affiliates, and removing Vavi would cause further fragmentation.
Cadet News Agency
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