{"id":468,"date":"2015-04-06T11:10:18","date_gmt":"2015-04-06T11:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/2015\/04\/06\/cosatu-the-end-draws-nigh-terry-bell-2015\/"},"modified":"2015-04-06T11:10:18","modified_gmt":"2015-04-06T11:10:18","slug":"cosatu-the-end-draws-nigh-terry-bell-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/2015\/04\/06\/cosatu-the-end-draws-nigh-terry-bell-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"COSATU: The End Draws Nigh – Terry Bell (2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nCOSATU: THE END DRAWS NIGH
\n<\/strong>
\n<\/em>
\nby Terry Bell<\/strong>
\n<\/em>
\nThe fact that Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has refused to accept his
\ndismissal from the federation should have come as no surprise to readers of this list.
\nThis column has pointed out for months now that the central executive committee
\n(CEC) of Cosatu has no constitutional authority to finally dismiss, suspend or expel
\nany office bearer or affiliate; that only a national congress may do that.
\nOf course, the constitution can be ignored, as it has been for nearly two years by the
\nCEC refusing to call a special national congress to deal with the problems that have
\nresulted in the announced expulsion of metalworkers\u2019 union, Numsa and the sacking
\nof Vavi. But this leaves the way open for a legal challenge.
\nIt is against this background that ANC secretary general, and former National Union
\nof Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary Gwede Mantashe, described the move
\nagainst Vavi as \u201creckless\u201d. The ANC is now trying desperately to contain what looks
\nlike an inevitable implosion of the federation.
\nVavi and Numsa, along with allies such as the Food and Allied Workers\u2019 Union have
\nreacted by stating that the fight continues to \u201cwin back Cosatu to workers\u2019 control\u201d.
\nWhich, according to the majority on the CEC, is where Cosatu remains; that Vavi
\nand, Numsa are \u201csplitters\u201d out to weaken the labour movement.
\nHowever, Vavi and the Cosatu affiliates supporting his position appear, tactically, to
\nhave the better of the argument. Mainly because of the unwillingness of the CEC \u2014
\nrecently always minus six or seven delegations \u2014 to call a special congress, but now
\nalso because of the conditions announced following the decision to dismiss Vavi.
\nCosatu president, S\u2019dumo Dlamini stated that no Cosatu affiliate or member of any
\nunion affiliated to the federation should attend any meeting addressed by Vavi \u2014 and,
\npresumably, anyone from Numsa. Also that Vavi should be effectively barred from
\nany Cosatu union facilities.
\nThis statement played into the hands of the CEC dissidents who complain of the
\nCEC\u2019s high-handed and autocratic management style. Vavi summed this up, stating:
\n\u201cMomentous decisions affecting the working class are made in small boardrooms
\ninstead of democratically by the members.\u201d
\nFor the federation\u2019s highly respected national spokesperson, Patrick Craven,
\nDlamini\u2019s instructions were the last straw. He announced his resignation, noting: \u201cI
\ncould not defend the indefensible”. Several other senior Cosatu figures are also
\ndiscussing whether to take a similar step.
\nHowever, because the battle is not about one individual or even one expelled affiliate,
\nbut rather for the \u201csoul of Cosatu\u201d, disgruntled individuals may be persuaded to
\nremain in position as the fight for a full national congress continues. Such a congress
\nwould have to include not only Vavi, but also Numsa.
\nDlamini this week said that a special congress would be organised for June, just three
\nmonths ahead of the scheduled triennial national gathering. This seems questionable
\nsince Dlamini last year gave a lack of funding as the excuse for Cosatu not having
\nstaged a special congress.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just talk. They\u2019re not going to have a proper congress,\u201d said a senior Cosatu
\nofficer who is contemplating resignation.
\nThis would almost certainly open the way for another costly and time-consuming
\nlegal battle that seems weighted against the CEC majority. Especially since Vavi and
\nNumsa are unlikely to follow the example of former Cosatu president Willie Madisha
\nand walk away from the fight to attempt to found a new labour federation.
\nMadisha did so in 2007 when a hostile CEC, including Vavi, expelled him, basically
\nfor not supporting Jacob Zuma as ANC president. He subsequently joined the
\nCongress of the People and now holds one of COPE\u2019s three parliamentary seats.
\nSo the slow-motion disintegration of Cosatu seems likely to continue, whatever the
\nefforts of the ANC, the decisions of the courts or the votes at whatever national
\ncongress is finally staged. After 30 years of sporadic squabbling about party politics,
\nbureaucracy and worker independence, it now appears that an end of some kind is
\nnigh.
\nTerry Bell
\nwriting, editing, broadcasting
\nspecialising in:
\npolitical\/economic analysis and labour
\nP.O Box 373, Muizenberg 7950
\nSouth Africa
\nTel: +27 +(0)21 788 9699
\nSkype: belnews \u2022 Twitter: @telbelsa
\nBlog: terrybellwrites.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}