Ramaphosa vows to save alliance

-2HA11(S%85G African 1a tional &ongress (A1&) President &yril 5amaphosa has vowed to mend the seemingly severed ties between the ruling party and its alliance partner &ongress of Douth African 7rade 8n ion (&2SA78).

He said the alliance, which includes the South African &ommunist Party (SA&P), was too big to fail as it had been built on the blood of those who had come before them.

&racks in the relationship between the two alliance partners played out in public during the week when workers prevented A1& 1ational &hair Gwede Mantashe from addressing their nation al congress in Midrand, Gauteng.

Delegates representing workers from different unions chased Mantashe away from the congress, singing

Gwede’ when he tried to step up to the podium. 7hey had e[pressed frustra tion with the A1& and its government for, among others, failing to implement a public sector wage agreement.

Addressing A1& supporters at the weekend during a /etsema campaign in .imberley, 1orthern &ape, 5ama phosa said the alliance was facing ‘enormous challenges’ which have to be addressed.

³And we have seen Must very recently with our strong ally &2SA78 raising a number of concerns and issues and these are issues that we are going to have to address, we are going to have to have a meeting with our allies and , have all these issues,´ 5amaphosa said.

³:e have a strategic alliance, not a pa per alliance, and it’s not an alliance that we can play games with. 7his alliance has been formed through struggle, this alliance has on all its edifice, the blood of our people. ,t is an alliance that we must make sure stands firm, is united, and we will not allow the alliance to split.´

He said those celebrating the embar rassing scenes at &2SA78’s congress, suggesting an imminent split of the alliance, could not be more wrong.

³Some people are suggesting that this is the end of the alliance. 1o, you ain’t seen nothing yet. 7he alliance is going to get even stronger.´

=ingiswa /osi, who was re elected unopposed as &2SA78 president, had warned the A1& that workers were not going to allow employers, in the private sector, government or state owned enti ties to ‘undermine collective bargaining facing the wrath of the workers’.

5amaphosa said the A1& was not going to let the alliance split as the issues &2SA78 was raising, including the wage agreement sticking point, could be resolved.