Crisis time looms for tripartite alliance CITIZEN REPORTER and SAPA
JOHANNESBURG - The battle lines have been drawn in what could be the biggest crisis in the tripartite alliance’s history. In an unprecedented show of support for the leader of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) Zwelinzima Vavi, trade unions yesterday unanimously declared their allegiance to him and dared the ANC to proceed with disciplinary action against him. This followed rumours that the ANC might bring disciplinary action against Vavi for criticising corruption in the ruling party’s ranks. Vavi last week accused President Jacob Zuma of not taking action against corrupt ministers. He singled out Co-operative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka and Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda, a member of the ANC’s national working committee (NWC). Although the rumoured charges of ill-discipline had not been officially brought against Vavi, no fewer than six trade unions and Cosatu’s alliance partner, the SA Communist Party, issued statements condemning the action. In a sign of the mood that exists, the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) ended its statement with: “Let the tenderpreneurs, the fraudsters, the rent-seekers, those who grow fat from stealing from the people, let them tremble!” Other statements were loaded with words such as “reckless”, “dismayed”, “angered” and “outrage”. Numsa warned: “We are confident that the ANC NWC would not be co-opted or coerced into an agenda which seeks to destroy the alliance, and particularly the public standing of Comrade Vavi, who enjoys mass support among the rank-and-file membership of the ANC.” The SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) “expressed outrage at the alleged decision”. “The attack is not only about Comrade Vavi and Cosatu, it is an attack on Cosatu affiliates and the working class, similar to the apartheid tactics used by the former regime,” said Samwu deputy general secretary Walter Theledi. “We are convinced that the vast majority of our people who live in poor and working-class communities will wholeheartedly agree with the Cosatu position and Comrade Vavi’s articulation of it.” Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said Vavi had not received any official communication from the ANC on the rumoured charges. The ANC neither confirmed nor denied the speculation. ANC spokesman Brian Sokutu said: “We are unable to comment on rumours or speculation because no decision has been made public on the matter. “Until such time that a decision is made public, can we then publicly make an announcement.” The ANC’s NWC, its top leadership structure, held a closed meeting on Monday after which* The Star* newspaper said four sources had confirmed that charges against Vavi were discussed. “The NWC did meet on Monday... if there are any decisions taken at NWC level that require being made public, then those decisions will be communicated to the media via statement or a media briefing,” said Sokutu. Cosatu confirmed its sources told it such charges were discussed. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe did not want to be drawn into commenting on the matter. The ANC’s silence on the rumours seemed to fuel speculation with several political parties and trade unions issuing statements to express “shock” at the reports. The SACP blamed a “reckless” grouping within the ANC. “We simply cannot believe that the ANC can take such a reckless decision which runs counter to the ANC’s own commitment to the alliance it leads,” SACP spokesman Malesela Maleka said. “If true, this reckless decision would have been pushed through... in the absence of a significant number of NWC members.” A tripartite alliance meeting was set to take place next week, but it was already scheduled three months ago, said Maleka. The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) was “angered” by the reports. “The union will vehemently oppose any attempt by some corrupt and fascist elements within the ANC to silence our federation by targeting its general secretary, who speaks not for himself but for the millions of workers who elected him.” Nehawu said workers would not “sit idle while their federation is being treated like a junior partner in the tripartite alliance”. -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
