Dispatch
*Gwede's May Day peace call* *Khutala Nandipha, Dispatch, East London, 2 May 2012*THE ANC used the Eastern Cape May Day rally to encourage alliance members to rid the region of the leaden curse of infighting and to strive to become the "number one" province.
Speaking yesterday from a tripartite platform to celebrate Workers' Day, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told a crowd of about 1000supporters in the Sisa Dukashestadium in Mdantsane to pullthemselves off the bottom and nottake socio-economic and political criticisms personally.
Earlier, SACP deputy generalsecretary Jeremy Cronin was booedby about 30 South African MunicipalWorkers' Union members from theChris Hani municipality when hecriticised government for pocketingR30-billion of taxpayers' money.
The hecklers were removed from the stadium but not after Cronin accused them of being people who did not want issues of the working class to be dealt with, and only wanted to focus on leadership battles and personality fights.
Mantashe said the province's education system had to pull itself up and improve the matric pass rate.
Speaking in broad terms, he said:"We need to take the curse off [the province] and strive to be number one and stop the infighting, because this leads to slow progress."
Turning to Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, he challenged Cosatu and SACP to apply for leadership within the government.
Cronin congratulated the ANC for putting pressure on the government to put a hold on implementing the e-tolling system on Gauteng roads.
He said this gave the ruling party, Cosatu and SACP time to consider the impact the tolls would have on the working class.
"Infrastructure must be improved for ordinary people, and not only for improving the lives of the middle and upper classes," he said.
The alliance had to fight for a "fair economic wage for the working class".He called on the movement to expose corrupt politicians who sold land which should have been given to the people, but was used to develop golf estates for the rich.
Vavi told the rally the role of Cosatu in 2012 was to push their progressive agenda in support of their allies, the SACP and ANC.
They planned on engaging government with firm principles and being flexible to advance the interest of the workers.
Vavi called for labour brokers to be banned and remain banned.He paid tribute to past Cosatu leaders, communists and worker leaders from the Eastern Cape who had endured apartheid.
He praised John Gomomo, OscarMpetha, Moses Mabhida and Thozamile Gqweta."These people continued the struggle under colonialism and capitalism and are from the Eastern Cape. We are saluting them today," said Vavi.
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