Cosatu must endorse Cyril now –
Federation’s unions push to block Zuma’s ex-wife from succeeding him
DEPUTY President Cyril Ramaphosa should be the next president of the ANC after the governing party’s elective conference in 2017.
And it is long overdue that trade union federation Cosatu should come out to endorse Ramaphosa.
These are the strong views of the SA Teachers’ Democratic Union (Sadtu) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), as Cosatu prepared to hold a special meeting of its central executive committee (CEC) later this month.
Sadtu, one of Cosatu’s biggest unions, has been at the forefront of a campaign to convince Cosatu to throw its weight behind Ramaphosa. This is despite the fact that the ANC has not officially opened the succession debate.
Cosatu will hold its meeting to resolve the raging debate among its affiliates over who should succeed President Jacob Zuma.
Some of the Cosatu affiliates were unhappy that factions and structures of the ANC – notably the ANC Women’s League – were already campaigning for their candidate while the party has not opened the race.
Yesterday, Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the ANC had to follow its tradition of making its deputy the next leader of the party.
He told Sowetan that the ANC needed to avoid a bruising contest that will lead to divisions and an inability to implement the party’s policies.
“Although we respect the processes of the ANC, we have an interest in [its] leadership as it leads the alliance. We think it is long overdue – Ramaphosa must replace comrade Jacob Zuma as [per ANC] tradition,” he said.
Sadtu raised the same debate at the previous Cosatu CEC last month and has forced the federation to debate the matter and take a position at a one-day special CEC on September 19.
There were fears that the debate on the ANC succession would divide Cosatu, which was weakened by the recent departure of the Food and Allied Workers’ Union.
NUM general secretary David Sipunzi said waiting for the ANC to officially open the succession debate was a disadvantage to some structures with regards to campaigning. He said there was already some campaigning in the ANC and so far there had not been any consequences.
Sipunzi said the leadership of his union would meet from September 22 to resolve the matter.
Although there was no formal position, Sipunzi said it was the tradition of the ANC for its deputy to take over the reins.
“We [are] just saying that the deputy [should] succeed the incumbent. That is the tradition,” he said.
“ANC needs to avoid a bruising contest
Last week, the ANC Women’s League reiterated that it wanted a female candidate to succeed Zuma.
The league wants African Union Commission chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to take over. But Sipunzi rejected the campaign, saying it was an insult to women.
“This thing of a woman president is [a] bad campaigning tool. It is an insult to women to say only now [that] they are ready for bigger things,” he said.
When asked for his opinion, Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said: “We are going to a CEC, comrades will state their views there.”