Cosatu Congress Wraps Up With A Declaration Calling For Unity
JOHANNESBURG – Cosatu President S'dumo Dlamini has said all of the federation's concerns around building unity while unions remain divided on loyalty have been expressed in the declaration at its special national congress.
The meeting wrapped up in Midrand on Tuesday after two days of intense debates about whether the Numsa and Zwelinzima Vavi should return, and if other unions are guilty of poaching each other’s members.
In the end, unions overwhelmingly voted to restrict Numsa and Vavi’s appeal to an ordinary congress in November.
Dlamini said they want to build unity in the federation's lower structures.
“It was not straitjacketing people to raise other issues of concern about unity and cohesion of the federation. You find them expressed very clearly in the declaration. We are making a point, there can be no unity that will be superficial.”The congress wrapped up with a declaration being adopted after concerns about utterances on leadership.
Dlamini said the special national congress was a success and campaigns will be adopted to make sure unity is built over time.
He said Cosatu has disproved its critics.Cosatu's special national congress concluded with rival factions sticking to their guns despite a clear show of support for the leadership and a commitment to unity from all delegates.
The congress was called by a third of affiliates two years ago to address divisions, at the heart of which was Numsa's expulsion and Vavi’s dismissal.
The metalworkers union and former general secretary were sharply criticised by unions such as the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa (Limusa) but received support from unions such as the South Africa Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu), the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) and the South African Football Players Union (Safpu).
The four-hour debate on Tuesday was aimed at flushing out the reasons for divisions in Cosatu, but it turned into delegates hurling insults at rival factions and the leadership.
Delegates from Popcru and Limusa took aim at those calling for a change of leadership.
“The federation is intact. Now there’s the loudest noise when the federation takes corrective measures against an affiliate. That cannot be accepted. There was no noise when this federation took action against certain leaders in the past,” said a Popcru representative.
“You’ve seen that we’ve been arguing since yesterday a this congress that the CEC does not have a right to interpret the Constitution. And that is not true. Chapter 17 is clear that the CEC interprets the Constitution and takes decisions on the basis of that,” added a Limusa representative.
Fawu and Safpu then hit back.
“Immediately when the ANC closed the door behind us at the CEC, what did we do? We unbundled all the issues that have been put on ceasefire… we singled out Numsa and we expelled it as the CEC. Everything has been thrown at the CEC to help Cosatu. And every time it touches that, it breaks it,” said a Fawu representative.
“It’s very unfortunate that this congress was denied an opportunity to really deal with the issues of unity and cohesion. Electing not to, of course, address the issue of Numsa and the issue of comrade Zwelinzima Vavi. When you look at the discussion document, from page 28 to page 37, there are a number of allegations that are made which I believe would have been important for those comrades to come and address this issue, said the Safpu representative”
In the declaration, Cosatu acknowledged the polarising views but called on unions to work on building unity from within the federation.
JOHANNESBURG – The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Special National Congress has wrapped up in Midrand with a declaration being adopted after concerns about utterances on leadership.
Cosatu’s National Office Bearers have thanked delegates who fought for unity during the congress.
But they failed to mention outspoken protests by at least five of its unions who took exception to the president’s speech. In the declaration, Cosatu has called for unity in making sure the national congress happens in November this year and has appealed to delegates to raise their concerns from within the federation rather than siding with the expelled National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa).Unions loyal to Numsa and Zwelinzima Vavi were overwhelmingly outvoted on the agenda and today failed to convince other unions to see certain issues their way.
Instead heated exchanges took place between workers on different sides of the divide with insults being hurled.Cosatu President Sdumo Dlamini says the Special National Congress was a success and campaigns will be adopted to make sure unity is built over time.
Dlamini says Cosatu has disproved its critics.“All those predictions, all those doom-sayers failed to succeed in their wishes that we would have a collapse of the congress or that we will have a split born out of this.”
But leader of the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu) Katishi Masemola says they’re still on the same path.
“Unfortunately when the environment is polarised, these things do happen.”
Dlamini says Cosatu has emerged from this congress more united than before.
At the same time, Numsa's claim of so-called majority support within Cosatu union’s was disproved after an overwhelming vote in favour of the leadership’s proposals yesterday.
Today a heated debate took place in the main plenary but delegates could not reach a consensus on the issues that divide workers.
These include Numsa’s expulsion and Vavi's dismissal.
Cosatu says these matters will be addressed at its next congress in November.
Meanwhile, as Cosatu's special national congress ends, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has raised concerns about the lack of debate around gender equality and employment equity within the federation.
Satawu’s Kate Matlou, who is also a former Cosatu official, says women organised in Cosatu’s unions need to stand up against victimisation by senior male colleagues.
She says delegates should have addressed the issue from the start of the congress.
Matlou says Vavi’s affair with a junior Cosatu staffer is a prime example of what can happen if gender equality is not respected.“We are about to close and I haven’t heard even a single person standing firm in advancing gender struggles in relation to what has happened in a Cosatu house, which is the house of the workers.”She says Cosatu should also admit that it’s exploiting staff and says these workers are waiting to hear what the federation has to say about them.“They want to hear us; what are we saying about their plight as workers when they are abused by ourselves as bosses to them.”
Delegates will leave this congress with a clearer understanding of the balance of forces but little achieved in building real unity.