Saftu racked by infighting, leadership battles
● Deep divisions between general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and two senior colleagues drove the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) to call in a mediator to sort out their squabbles — but the effort failed, an internal report says.
The report, due to be tabled at the federation’s conference this month, says the federation is in crisis due to the tension between Vavi on the one hand and Saftu president Mac Chavalala and deputy general secretary Moleko Phakedi on the other. Both Chavalala and Phakedi were placed on suspension in March.
Phakedi is expected to challenge Vavi for the top post when the federation chooses new leaders.
According to insiders, the main bone of contention is the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP), which was created by the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), a Saftu affiliate, in the lead-up to the 2019 elections. At the time Numsa pressed Saftu to back the party, but union leadership refused to do so.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Saftu insider said a faction supporting Vavi continues to oppose official support for the SRWP, arguing that some members are already supporters of parties such as the Pan Africanist Congress and the EFF.
The internal Saftu report says the mediation process revealed that Vavi felt undermined by Chavalala and was frustrated by what he saw as attempts to “micromanage” him.
“The general secretary [GS] noted that he and the president used to enjoy a close and healthy relationship but that this changed for political reasons. The GS is of the opinion that he is being politically marginalised due to him adopting an independent stance in relation to the SRWP,” reads the report. It says Vavi also had problems with Phakedi, who, he complained, was not punctual and deliberately failed to meet work commitments so the secretariat would be cast in a bad light.
Chavalala, in the report, disputes that there was a political agenda or project to undermine Vavi but acknowledges that they had stopped communicating.
For his part, Phakedi believed Vavi was “out to deal with him”, the report says.
It says the mediation process failed to resolve divisions between the three and attributes the split to political differences in “building a movement for socialism”.
Phakedi’s campaign to unseat Vavi is believed to have the backing of Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim. Two insiders, speaking on condition of anonymity, believe that a group backed by Jim will lead Saftu back to Cosatu if it triumphs at the conference.
Vavi confirmed yesterday that he was standing again for the position of general secretary. Jim and Phakedi could not be reached for comment.