{"id":477,"date":"2015-06-14T14:41:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-14T14:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/2015\/06\/14\/a-whiff-of-democracy-in-the-cosatu-air-terry-bell-2015\/"},"modified":"2015-06-14T14:41:50","modified_gmt":"2015-06-14T14:41:50","slug":"a-whiff-of-democracy-in-the-cosatu-air-terry-bell-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/2015\/06\/14\/a-whiff-of-democracy-in-the-cosatu-air-terry-bell-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"A Whiff of Democracy in the COSATU Air – Terry Bell (2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nA WHIFF OF DEMOCRACY IN THE COSATU AIR
\nby Terry Bell
\nThere is just the faintest breeze of renewal and democracy wafting through the
\nbureaucratic corridors of Cosatu and disturbing the cobwebs of dogma that have
\ntangled up due process in the country\u2019s largest labour federation. It comes in the
\nform of the election of David Sipunzi as general secretary of the National Union of
\nMineworkers (NUM).
\nSipunzi has clearly read, understood, and seems prepared to act on the basis of
\nCosatu\u2019s constitution. This document provides a recipe for democratic house
\ncleaning and, if consistently applied, should ensure the unity in diversity and
\nmembership control that is the essence of democracy.
\nBut whether Sipunzi will be able to apply the recipe is another matter. Especially
\nsince Cosatu is still under the control of a bureaucratic cabal wedded to the dogma
\nthat has caused the current crisis.
\nThis dogma has its origins in the SA Communist Party (SACP). It sees the ANC as
\nthe essential vehicle in which to achieve an ill-defined socialism via a national
\ndemocratic revolution (NDR). To this end, party members are required to take
\ncontrol of all the leading positions in society, the trade unions being essential.
\nBut now the SACP is split. Both expelled Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi
\nand his counterpart in the also expelled National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa)
\nwere, until recently, members of the SACP. Karl Cloete, deputy general secretary of
\nNumsa was also formerly an extremely loyal Western Cape provincial secretary of
\nthat party.
\nIt is this that makes the victory of David Sipunzi so important. And particularly
\nbecause of some of the statements that he made in the immediate wake of his victory.
\nHe noted that he kept being asked by NUM members: \u201cWhen is Vavi coming back?\u201d
\nAnd he went on to call for the expulsion of Vavi and Numsa to be reviewed.
\nAccording the Cosatu constitution, only a national congress of all affiliates can ratify
\nand may overturn an expulsion decision by the executive. This process continues to
\nbe ignored.
\nSipunzi also stressed: \u201cCosatu members don\u2019t have to support the ANC-led tripartite
\nalliance to remain in the fold of the federation.\u201d Once again, this is in line with the
\nfederation\u2019s constitution. And, once again, this is resisted by the believers in an NDR
\nroad to a working class nirvana.
\nHowever, NUM\u2019s new general secretary defeated the long serving Frans Baleni, a
\ncentral committee (CC) member of the SACP by just nine votes, an indication that
\nthe union is split right down the middle. Similar divisions probably exist in a number
\nother Cosatu affiliates currently aligned with the controlling Cosatu faction headed by
\npresident S\u2019dumo Dlamini, also a CC member of the SACP.
\nSuch is the substance of the turmoil within Cosatu. However, form continues to be
\nfollowed, with messages of solidarity and congratulation being sent from various
\nunions allied to the Cosatu leadership and from the SACP. The exception was
\nDlamini who noted that Sipunzi\u2019s comments were \u201cuncalled for and unfortunate\u201d.
\nDlamini has consistently opposed the right of Numsa and Vavi to attend and put their
\ncases to a special national congress (SNC) now scheduled for next month. It was for
\nthis reason that Numsa attempted to gain access to the congress by making an urgent
\napplication to the high court.
\nBut the judge played Pontius Pilate and effectively washed is hands of the matter by
\ndeclaring that it was not urgent. So Numsa\u2019s constitutional right to be heard at \u2014 and
\ntherefore to attend \u2014 the SNC, was not ruled on.
\nThese developments have all the ingredients of a farce, but they do seem to indicate
\nthat the final episode in this messy saga is dawning. The hope within the majority of
\nthe Cosatu leadership appears to be that Numsa and Vavi will finally walk away and
\nform another federation, taking with them dissident elements within the loyalist
\nfaction. It would then be unnecessary to stage a promised hearing for Vavi and
\nNumsa at the scheduled national congress in November.
\nBut a split at this stage could leave Cosatu with a rump of membership largely drawn
\nfrom the public sector, something Gwede Mantashe, a former NUM general secretary
\nand now secretary general of the ANC this week warned against. However, it is clear
\nthat the current majority on the Cosatu executive want rid of both Vavi and Numsa,
\nso are unlikely to back down.
\nGiven this reality, the pending divorce proceedings will almost certainly be
\nacrimonious and the initial outcome both messy and confused. But it may also blow
\naway the cobwebs of dogma and perhaps result in a healthier, even stronger, labour
\nmovement in the long run.
\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\/477"}],"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=477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/global-labour.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}