 Cosatu in dress rehearsal for ANC’s leadership battle AS THE African National Congress (ANC) battles to contain its succession battles, its ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), finds itself in the same boat. The race to succeed Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has taken off — with National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim emerging as a frontrunner. National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) chief Frans Baleni and his counterpart at the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), Fikile Majola, are hot on Mr Jim’s heels. Cosatu elections will be held in October next year — two months before the ANC chooses its top leadership . The two processes are related, as the elections in the labour federation will feed into the ANC’s own succession debate. While Mr Vavi is expected not to stand again for Cosatu’s top post — having served four terms — a statement at the weekend said he was available to serve once again. "The general secretary will stand for re-election in the next congress if this is the wish of Cosatu members," the statement said. Mr Vavi announced last year that he would not avail himself for another term as leader of the federation, but was persuaded by Cosatu leaders to withdraw that decision amid fear that it would lead to an early race for the most powerful position in SA’s labour fraternity. The latest announcement that Mr Vavi would stand again if so required may also be another attempt to suppress the competition between Numsa and the NUM over who gets to lead Cosatu. Numsa president Cedric Gina let the cat out of the bag when he claimed last Friday there was a campaign, mainly in the media, to destroy Mr Jim’s image so that he "may not qualify for the position of general secretary of Cosatu". Mr Jim’s life was at risk because of negative media coverage that portrayed him as a radical and a populist leader, said Mr Gina. His statement agitated the NUM, with its president, Senzeni Zokwana, pouring cold water over the source of Numsa’s security concerns. "We further note with concern the innuendos that (Mr Jim’s) security threat is on the basis of the so-called leadership race within Cosatu," Mr Zokwana said. Cosatu’s succession will be influenced by the ANC’s presidential race. The federation is already divided over Jacob Zuma’s leadership of the ANC. Affiliates have different views on his performance as leader of the ANC and the government. Unions such as Numsa are agitating for radical policies to be implemented and are therefore critical of what they see as procrastination by Luthuli House and the government. The NUM, meanwhile, is seen as conciliatory in its engagement with the ANC and the government. Mr Jim is likely to fit in well with the policy agenda pushed by the ANC Youth League. He is a staunch driver of the call to nationalise not only the mines , but also the "dizzy heights of the economy", which includes banks . The fact that Numsa favours "nationalisation" creates an expectation that a Cosatu led by Mr Jim would suit the league’s agenda of replacing Mr Zuma at the Mangaung elections in December next year. Mr Jim is widely expected to back the plan to replace Mr Zuma, possibly with Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. On the other hand, a victory for Mr Baleni would boost Mr Zuma’s chances of re-election. He would most likely back the idea of retaining the ANC’s top three officials . These are Mr Zuma, Mr Motlanthe and secretary-general Gwede Mantashe. Mr Majola — serving his fourth term as Nehawu’s general secretary — is another option for the position of Cosatu general secretary. He is one of the more experienced secretaries among the federation’s affiliates. However, Nehawu spokesman Sizwe Pamla says that the union is not concerned with Cosatu’s succession. In fact, while Mr Vavi is still in office, "it is rude for anyone to be talking about the succession debate", Mr Pamla says. Insiders say the ANC Youth League imagines Mr Vavi as the ANC’s chairman in its "Mangaung Dream Team". It may seem Mr Vavi’s chances of making it into the ANC’s top six would be smoother if he threw his weight behind the league’s campaign to replace Mr Zuma with Mr Motlanthe. [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] . |
