Nehawu puts firm stamp on Ramaphosa
Cyril slams theft from the poor
If you don’t like our choice of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed President Jacob Zuma, hard luck.
This was said by National Health, Education and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) president Mzwandile Makwabiya yesterday, in his opening address at the start of the union’s national congress in Boksburg on the East Rand.
“We must talk about that choice because it is the choice of the workers,” he said.
“We are not to discuss that choice under the table nor under the blanket. We are going to talk about that choice in the open,” he told delegates.
Makwabiya repeatedly referred to Ramaphosa, who is one of the frontrunners in the ANC leadership race to replace Zuma, as the “president incoming for the workers”.
Nehawu, Cosatu’s biggest affiliate, is one of the unions which pushed for a motion of no confidence against the federation’s president S’dumo Dlamini, a Zuma supporter, during Cosatu’s central committee meeting recently.
Dlamini angered union leaders after he attended Zuma’s lavish birthday bash in Kliptown, Soweto, in April, after Cosatu had taken a decision that Zuma must step down as president.
Cosatu is backing Ramaphosa to be the next ANC president and ultimately the country’s president, if the ANC wins the 2019 elections.
In his speech, Ramaphosa slammed some leaders who helped themselves to resources meant for the poor.
“We must confront the allegations of state capture as more evidence emerges.
“The e-mails are revealing everything. We need to address this issue because it demonstrates there’s been undue external influence over appointments, [and] procurement decisions in public institutions”
Ramaphosa focused on ANC achievements and the upcoming party policy conference which kicks off on Friday.
“Although we have achieved much, there is much that we still need to do,” he said.
“We are still among the most unequal society in the world.”