And so history repeats itself

There was a sense of déjà vu around the country this week as thousands of Cosatu and SA Communist Party (SACP) members took to the streets to protest against state capture, corruption and against President Jacob Zuma himself. It looked as though the history of 10 years ago was repeating itself. Back in 2007, the powerful worker organisations mobilised their supporters – and demonstrated – against then president Thabo Mbeki, insisting that he be denied another term as ANC president at the party’s conference in Polokwane.

History now records that Cosatu and the SACP, along with supporters such as Cyril Ramaphosa, won the day at Polokwane, forcing the election of their candidate, Jacob Zuma. Mbeki was later “recalled” by the ANC from the Union Buildings. A lot can change in a decade. Today, the people who carried Zuma on their shoulders into the highest office in the land are clearly having second thoughts. They believe that not only was Zuma not the protector of workers’ rights they thought he might be, he has also seemingly aligned himself with the worst sort of rapacious capitalism – as displayed in the state capture saga involving the Gupta family.

Cosatu and the SACP are, once again, part of an opposition to Zuma, which can be likened to the “coalition of the wounded” as they were in Polokwane.

They may be wounded – through being neglected and betrayed by Zuma – but the organisations are far from impotent. They still have considerable clout and they are moving to use their strength to have Zuma and his anointed successor Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma rejected at the ANC electoral conference in December.

Ironically, given his support for Zuma against Mbeki at Polokwane in 2007, the main beneficiary of this political energy will be Ramaphosa.

We wonder if we have already seen this political movie …