Meeting could decide Vavi’s fate
THE FATE of Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi will be up for discussion at an extraordinary meeting of the federation tomorrow.
The special central executive committee (CEC) will discuss a number of issues, including the reinstatement of Vavi’s disciplinary process which involves nine charges.
The charges include maladministration linked to the purchase and sale of Cosatu buildings, as well as bringing the federation into disrepute after having sex with a junior co-worker in his office.
Vavi is set to find the CEC hostile towards him. While earlier this month some anti-Vavi unions indicated they would take a conciliatory stance towards him, he has since angered many with his backing of metalworkers’ union Numsa. Vavi refused to attend a media conference with other Cosatu leaders last week on Numsa’s expulsion from the federation or sign off on a letter notifying the union it had been given the boot.
He instead wrote a letter to Cosatu’s affiliates imploring them to keep Numsa in Cosatu, warning it would otherwise lead to the federation’s demise. The next day, he told a funeral service he did not care about the consequences of the letter.
Vavi will also have a difficult time at the CEC if seven of Cosatu’s 18 affiliates stick to their guns and boycott the meeting. The affiliates, who are opposed to Numsa’s expulsion as they believe Vavi is next, announced last week that they would boycott future CEC meetings, which had become a “slaughterhouse”.
Food and Allied Workers Union general secretary Katishi Masemola, who is the spokesman for the seven affiliates, said yesterday they were consulting whether to participate in the meeting. If the seven decide to snub the CEC, they may be offering Vavi to the wolves as the rest of the affiliates in the executive voted yes to Numsa’s expulsion and many of them also want harsh action against Vavi.
Yesterday, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), which backs Numsa’s expulsion, said it was shocked by the decision of the seven affiliates and Vavi to contest the metalworkers’ punishment.
“Popcru has long wondered about the general secretary’s motives and loyalty to the federation, since his office is charged with the responsibility of implementing the resolutions of the federation.
“He appears to be acting contrary to these decisions, with his recent letter pointing to that fact.
“He cannot act as an individual and remove himself from the collective Cosatu leadership as he pleases if he is indeed interested in the unity of the federation,” the union said.
The SA Democratic Teachers Union said on Friday Vavi’s lack of support for the CEC’s resolution indicated he was “a leader who has clearly grown bigger than the organisation”.
If the seven unions decide not to take part in tomorrow’s meeting, it can still go ahead as the other affiliates have the necessary numbers for a quorum.