Zuma not my friend — Cosatu boss
THE man who is accused of engineering Zwelinzima Vavi’s suspension from trade union federation Cosatu says President Jacob Zuma is “not my father and he is not my friend”.
S’dumo Dlamini, Cosatu president and the man who chaired the meeting that acted against Vavi last week, is considered to be the general secretary’s archenemy in the federation. Vavi is still to face a disciplinary committee for allegedly bringing Cosatu into disrepute after he admitted to having sex with a subordinate at its Johannesburg offices.
Dlamini denied that he was doing Zuma a favour by getting rid of Vavi. He said the allegations were “lies meant to weaken and split Cosatu”.
“[Zuma] is the president of the ANC. I am the president of Cosatu. He is the leader of the alliance. We work as a collective,” he said.
Vavi and his backers claim the action against him is aimed at turning Cosatu into the ANC’s “labour desk”.
Last week, Vavi accused Dlamini of orchestrating his removal.
The allegations were lies meant to weaken and split Cosatu
Some of Vavi’s supporters now want Dlamini, a member of the ANC’s national executive committee, kicked out of Cosatu.
They argue that Dlamini has been reluctant in articulating Cosatu’s views, which are widely seen to be anti-ANC.
The supporters say that without Vavi, the federation could abandon the campaign against the tolling of Gauteng freeways and drop its call for the banning of labour brokers.
Dlamini denied that he could influence Cosatu on his own.
“I will not change Cosatu’s approach to those campaigns. I’m committed to the programme of the federation,” he said.
Cosatu insiders say that although the two leaders worked in the same buildings, they only saw each other at the national office bearers’ meetings, which are held fortnightly.
Dlamini tried to paint a rosy picture of his relationship with Vavi this week.
“The relationship has always been strong. It remains strong and will continue to be strong all the time. He remains my comrade,” he said of Vavi.