Union calls for leeway when allies criticise ANCAllies should be able to criticise the ANC and not fear an alliance split, says Numsa. SAM MKOKELI Published: 2011/02/21 06:22:54 AM
ALLIES of the African National Congress (ANC) should be allowed to criticise the government without fears of an alliance split being raised, National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) leaders said yesterday, after an executive committee ahead of an alliance summit. The manner in which labour allies criticised the government was a bone of contention in the alliance last year, with the ruling party chastising the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) for its public criticism of it and the government. The federation, of which Numsa is a member, was also accused of planning regime change when it held a civil society conference to which the ANC was not invited and at which it was criticised. The alliance summit, to be held in Pretoria on Thursday and Friday, has been postponed a number of times , creating the impression that ANC leaders had felt it should not be held while tensions were high. Numsa secretary Irvin Jim yesterday said the union’s national executive committee, which met last week, called for the preservation of the independence of the allies. Cosatu’s space to criticise needed to be guaranteed, while the South African Communist Party (SACP) needed to strengthen itself. Cosatu and the SACP have clashed over their approaches in dealing with the ANC , with Cosatu accusing the SACP of being too close to President Jacob Zuma ’s government. A result of this was that the party could not objectively criticise the ANC , Cosatu has said. Mr Jim yesterday reiterated the call made by Cosatu leaders last year that the SACP needed full-time leaders, rather than the current situation in which some of its senior leaders served in the government. SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande is also higher education minister, while his deputy, Jeremy Cronin, is deputy transport minister . Other office bearers also have duties outside the party — chairman Gwede Mantashe holds the full-time position of ANC secretary-general . Mr Jim said the two parties should " iron out (their) differences on tactics and strategy". The areas of conflict among the allies include their approach to economic development, and what tools are needed to grow the economy and redistribute wealth. The unions have strongly criticised the government’s New Growth Path , which contains proposals to improve SA’s economic performance and create 5-million new jobs in 10 years. The SACP has endorsed the growth plan. [email protected] -- 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] .
