Business Day
*COSATU President claims Corruption Watch 'meddling' in power battles*** *Sam Mkokeli, Business Day, Johannesburg, 23 April 2013*CONGRESS of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Sdumo Dlamini has accused Corruption Watch, a graft-busting agency set up by the federation and closely associated with general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, of meddling in union affairs.
The watchdog was established early last year to probe corruption, but is now at the centre of the vicious battle unfolding in Cosatu for control of the unions.
Mr Dlamini said in an interview on Monday that the organisation had deliberately entangled itself in union power battles. His claims will add to the intensity of a bitter struggle for the soul of the union movement, which is a powerful ally of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
The battle also threatens to weaken the union movement as it grapples with the new realities of the postrecession workplace.
Mr Dlamini is associated with a group at odds with the outspoken Mr Vavi, who is fighting for his political life in what analysts say is a political campaign to muzzle and even remove him.
Mr Vavi has been at loggerheads with Cosatu leaders over his criticism of aspects of the ANC's Mangaung elections. His critics are unhappy that he has continued to chide Mr Zuma and others around him, despite a Cosatu decision to back the team.
Mr Vavi serves on Corruption Watch's board. The establishment of the body was hailed as a decisive initiative under Mr Vavi's leadership. But his critics in Cosatu feared it would be used to embarrass ANC and union leaders.
Mr Dlamini said Corruption Watch has entangled itself in the federation's internal battles, choosing to probe politically driven cases. He said if Corruption Watch was objective, it would be able to account for and explain its intentions and processes.
"To me they have come across as entangled in the factions within Cosatu unions," he said.
A Cosatu central executive meeting next month would look at Corruption Watch, as it reviews other operational and policy issues, and reaches a decision on Mr Vavi's future, he said.
An investigation into union matters, which will examine decisions taken by Mr Vavi among other things, has begun, with Cosatu unions building a case that may justify purging him.
Corruption Watch executive director Dave Lewis yesterday rejected claims that it was pursuing cases meant to tarnish unionists and serve political interests. He said of 13 reports of corruption and financial mismanagement in unions, eight were directed against five Cosatu affiliates. He did not know "or frankly care whether or not the Cosatu affiliates cited in the reports are opponents or allies of Mr Vavi", he said.
Only one of the reports was followed up. It concerned the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union but it was dropped when it was discovered that the same case was in court, as suspected unionists had been charged.
Mr Dlamini also took issue with union leaders who attacked the government's National Development Plan (NDP), a blueprint to tackle South Africa's socioeconomic and infrastructural backlog.
The plan is increasingly becoming a source of conflict in the unions. Mr Vavi is one of the Cosatu leaders who have poured cold water on the NDP, saying its resolutions were not radical enough. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, which has been vocal in its support for Mr Vavi, was one of the first critics of the NDP --- claiming it copied Democratic Alliance policies.
Cosatu's secretariat --- headed by Mr Vavi --- last month released a discussion document criticising the NDP. This will be discussed at the executive meeting next month.
Mr Dlamini said some critics of the NDP spoke as though there was an official Cosatu position to kick some of its policies into touch, when in fact, Cosatu would decide on the plan next month.
He warned that his colleagues and affiliate leaders had abandoned an alliance-wide decision not to attack each other publicly.
Unionists should rather use internal alliance platforms, he said.Two alliance summits are planned --- one in June, to be followed by another in August to focus on economic policy.
By "labelling each other publicly", leaders were "worsening (the situation) creating a slippery mud in the environment in the alliance".
Mr Dlamini also took on, without naming them, Cosatu leaders who publicly stated that it would be difficult to campaign for the ANC in next year's election, warning that these leaders were going against a federation resolution.
He said Cosatu was now in a "quite unfortunate situation" as it was highly divided --- essentially a "struggle within a struggle". Leaders took up workers' struggles for their own interests, often going against federation decisions, he said.
* **From: http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/politics/2013/04/23/cosatu-president-claims-corruption-watch-meddling-in-power-battles*
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