Comrade Solly Phetoe was elected to be the new Deputy General Secretary of COSATU. Cde Bheki Ntshalintshali is the General Secretary, elected unopposed. All four other positions are unchanged. The incumbents were elected unopposed. _____
BusinessDay.gif COSATU delegates scramble to conclude business on final day of congress Karl Gernetzky, Business Day, Johannesburg, 26 November 2015 Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) delegates scrambled on Thursday to conclude all the business of its 12th national congress, with some affiliates challenging the powers of the federation's highest decision-making body. COSATU delegates have gathered for the final day of the congress in Midrand, which is expected to end with a declaration on the resolutions taken at the event and a closing address by federation president Sdumo Dlamini. Later on Thursday, the election results for the only contested top-six position, that of deputy general secretary, is expected to be announced. However, National Union of Mineworkers president Piet Matosa suggested this be deferred to the next central executive committee meeting. Affiliates then asked that former COSATU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi's expulsion from the federation be dealt with, and the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) demanded that the packed agenda continue as scheduled despite time constraints. COSATU general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali tried to calm delegates and told them this would not be the first time issues were deferred, but federation deputy president Tyotyo James ruled that discussions on resolutions would continue, to the delight of FAWU members. Delegates debated a resolution put forward by the South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU) that a new body be established to ensure that federation resolutions are implemented. After a spirited debate, there was no outcome on how to address changes or reforms to the federation's constitution that could limit its central executive committee's powers. The committee is the federation's highest decision-making body. SACCAWU deputy general secretary Mduduzi Mbongwe suggested the establishment of an executive committee "to improve the implementation of resolutions". "We believe we must not behave like philosophers, just trying to interpret the world, the point is to change the world," said Mr Mbongwe. FAWU deputy general secretary Moleko Phakedi said: "We believe the central executive committee has too much power." The resolutions taken in 2012 were not implemented, causing friction within the federation that culminated in the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (NUMSA) being expelled from COSATU. NUMSA said the federation's failure to make good on its resolutions is evidence that the working class is being prejudiced by a "right-wing clique" controlling the alliance. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union endorsed SACCAWU's resolution in principle that an executive committee be established to speed up action on resolutions, but said that this should be deferred to the central executive committee for consideration. But the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union said such a move could undermine the central executive committee and proposed alternatives, such as strengthening the central executive committee's subcommittees. The congress resolved to defer all issues of constitutional amendments to the central executive committee. From: <http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/labour/2015/11/26/cosatu-delegates-scrambl e-to-conclude-business-on-final-day-of-congress> http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/labour/2015/11/26/cosatu-delegates-scramble -to-conclude-business-on-final-day-of-congress -- -- 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] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
