Cosatu’s call for Ramaphosa to lead ‘a bid to save ANC’
THE call by Cosatu for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to take the reins of the ANC and the country is an attempt to save the movement‚ the labour federation’s Tyotyo James says.
Speaking at the opening day of Cosatu’s Central Committee in Irene‚ Pretoria‚ yesterday‚ first deputy president James defended the federation’s decision to back Ramaphosa.
“We want to save the ANC from self-destruction. We want the deputy president to be the president of the ANC‚ that must be clear‚” James said.
SACP general secretary Blade Nzimande, meanwhile, delivering a message of support at the meeting, lashed out at the controversial Gupta family‚ labelling them a threat to the ANC and the country.
He accused the Gupta family of interfering in South Africa‚ using certain members of the ANC and government officials to push their interests and agendas.
“The most immediate threats facing our liberation are the parasitic networks that have a say in the state and our economy‚ at the centre of which is the Gupta family‚ which is working with some of the most senior comrades in our movement and the state.
“[They] try to take a country that belongs to other people and then we are told they are fighting white monopoly capital‚” Nzimande said.
James said the federation should not be called to order over its Ramaphosa call. It had now become the norm for ANC alliance partners to publicly announce their preferred leadership candidates‚ without disciplinary action being taken.
During his opening address‚ Cosatu leader S’dumo Dlamini said it was crucial for Cosatu to continue working with the ANC as it would be nothing without the movement.
“But the ANC must help us to go through this journey of ensuring that we can build a stronger ANC-led alliance because at the moment‚ it seems decisions can be taken by one partner and they affect all of us and we are not part of those decisions. That must come to an end‚” Dlamini said.
Ramaphosa is expected to deliver a message of support on behalf of the ANC today.