President must step down immediately – Cosatu
President Jacob Zuma must go now, according to the ANC’s alliance partner, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu).
Cosatu, which said it was not consulted before Zuma implemented his latest Cabinet reshuffle, called yesterday for the president to step down from all his positions in the ANC, the alliance and the country.
The leadership of the 1.7 million-member federation were speaking after a central executive committee meeting in Johannesburg.
They said Cosatu believed Zuma was no longer the right person to lead the movement and the country.
“We think that after all his undeniable contributions to both the movement and the government, the time has arrived for him to step down and allow the country to be led by a new collective at a government level,” said Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali. “We no longer believe in his leadership abilities and we shall be communicating that decision to our ally, the ANC.”
He said they would have communicated their position internally to the ANC, but since there had been no engagement with them, they had no option but to speak out publicly.
Ntshalintshali said Cosatu would meet the ANC top six to demand an explanation for Zuma’s decisions. And although the federation opposed the Cabinet reshuffle, it said it would support Pravin Gordhan’s replacement, Malusi Gigaba, where necessary.
But he said the federation opposed the firing of former finance minister Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas instead of removing incompetent ministers.
They intended to ask the ANC and Zuma to explain why Cosatu was not consulted as an ally of the ANC.
Ntshalintshali said it was the first time the federation had been sidelined when changes to the Cabinet were made.
When the federation had questioned whether Zuma’s decision was transparent, in the best interests of the ANC and the country and whether it would advance the agenda of radical economic transformation, the answers were all negative, he added.
Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said: “We need this alliance, but we need a reconfigured alliance. We must be equal. Cosatu is not a stepdaughter of the ANC.”