Vote for Vavi as Cosatu leader on a knife-edge
Continuity might be factor in his favour
OME Cosatu leaders in the Western Cape have come out in support of Zwelinzima Vavi’s reelection as the federation’s secretary.
However, as the countdown begins to the elective conference, which starts on Monday, there are also knives out for Vavi – described as “individualistic” by some union leaders.
Cosatu Western Cape leader Tony Ehrenreich believes Vavi will probably be re-elected if he is assessed on the work he has done during his tenure.
Mpumalanga’s Fidel Mlombo echoed these sentiments and said he had not heard of any affiliate in the province who wanted Vavi replaced.
“Our affiliates want continuity so that we have stability in the organisation,” he said.
The congress has already been billed a “mini-Mangaung” – in reference to the ANC’s upcoming elective conference in December – and Vavi has described it as a “do-or-die” moment that would show whether the federation’s members were looking for a “lapdog or for critical voices”.
Speaking at a Sowetan Dialogues event in Pretoria recently, Vavi described the country in its current
Slargest affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which supports Zuma’s re-election campaign. But the NUM has distanced itself from talk of removing Vavi and said no resolution had been taken to have him replaced.
Affiliates have been careful not to come out in public against Vavi.
There was some jockeying for the top positions in Cosatu, and some union leaders might be unhappy with Vavi, said Ehrenreich, but he had delivered on the Cosatu mandate.
Mlombo said unity and cohesion were important for the federation and that if there was an assessment on the leadership of Cosatu, it must be based on the entire leadership and not on one individual.
“You cannot blame wrongs on one person.”
The SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) said it was busy discussing resolutions for the congress, and the leadership issues would be discussed only at its special central committee meeting this weekend.
Samwu’s Tahir Sema said the union had not been approached by any faction on the leadership issue and that it would not be engaging in any rumour-mongering on Vavi’s re-election.
The SA Transport Workers Union’s