No SACP T-shirts at Sada rally
A NEW “Friends of Zwelinzima Vavi” group has emerged in the Eastern Cape amid allegations that supporters of the suspended Cosatu secretary-general were being intimidated.
Launched in his hometown in Sada, Whittlesea, on Saturday, the FOZV group is largely made up of South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) leaders, the majority union for teachers in the province.
Speakers at the event voiced disgust over alleged threats levelled against Lukhanji municipality councillors and tri-partite alliance members who openly supported Vavi.
Vavi was suspended in June after admitting he had unprotected sex with a junior colleague at Cosatu’s offices in Johannesburg.
The media was initially barred from attending the Saturday meeting, in which Vavi said he was hoping to have a frank talk with his “friends”. However, he did not chase the media out.
At the meeting Sadtu regional leader Aaron Mhlontlo announced that a fundraising meeting would be held in Queenstown yesterday.
This follows Vavi’s announcement a few days after his suspension that he would approach the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and the courts to have his suspension reversed. The funds would help him with his legal fees.
At the event, Vavi took a swipe at what he called patronage, saying it was destroying the alliance.
He also questioned the role of the SACP in the alliance. “The SACP has lost its stance as a vanguard of workers and the poor.”
On the eve of Saturday event, SACP provincial spokesman Siyabonga Mdodi distancing the party from the event, claiming it “undermined unity in the federation” and was an attempt to “worship” an individual. There was hardly an SACP T-shirt or speaker from the ANC to be seen at Saturday’s meeting.
Vavi said the ANC was a shadow of its old self. “There is a new ANC now. The ANC has lost its original purpose when it was formed in 1910, Ayo ANC yesiqu, abantwana, abafazi , but for the poor and working class.” Kukho ingcuka ezombhethe ufele legusha abenza ngathi bayathanda i-ANC .”
He painted a picture of himself as someone persecuted by his own comrades for raising issues affecting the poor and the working class, and said he was being thrown out of the window by his own comrades, who were now behaving like people who wanted everyone to be submissive.
Vavi said a month down the line, no charges had been made against him, and though a third of Cosatu’s unions had called for a special congress to determine his future, a few senior people in Cosatu were against that idea.
Vavi shocked many on Friday when he joined hands with the Eastern Cape Health Crisis Coalition, a team of health worker groups that marched to Bhisho to raise concerns over the state of health in the province. Health MEC Sicelo Gqobana said it was an attack on government.
“I’m going to keep on marching if my local hospital is no longer a health care facility but an undertaker,” Vavi said, adding there had been attempts to silence him.
Vavi said while unity was important in the alliance, truth should be told first. “We should be careful of those calling for unity. Even Jim said so. They are calling for unity and want to push me aside.” — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
Vavi draws battle lines in hometown
A NEW “Friends of Zwelinzima Vavi” group has emerged in the Eastern Cape amid allegations that supporters of the suspended Cosatu secretary-general were being intimidated.
Launched in his hometown in Sada, Whittlesea, on Saturday, the FOZV group is largely made up of South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) leaders, the majority union for teachers in the province.
Speakers at the event voiced disgust over alleged threats levelled against Lukhanji municipality councillors and tri-partite alliance members who openly supported Vavi.
Vavi was suspended in June after admitting he had unprotected sex with a junior colleague at Cosatu’s offices in Johannesburg.
The media was initially barred from attending the Saturday meeting, in which Vavi said he was hoping to have a frank talk with his “friends”. However, he did not chase the media out.
At the meeting Sadtu regional leader Aaron Mhlontlo announced that a fundraising meeting would be held in Queenstown yesterday.
This follows Vavi’s announcement a few days after his suspension that he would approach the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and the courts to have his suspension reversed. The funds would help him with his legal fees.
At the event, Vavi took a swipe at what he called patronage, saying it was destroying the alliance.
He also questioned the role of the SACP in the alliance. “The SACP has lost its stance as a vanguard of workers and the poor.”
On the eve of Saturday event, SACP provincial spokesman Siyabonga Mdodi distancing the party from the event, claiming it “undermined unity in the federation” and was an attempt to “worship” an individual. There was hardly an SACP T-shirt or speaker from the ANC to be seen at Saturday’s meeting.
Vavi said the ANC was a shadow of its old self. “There is a new ANC now. The ANC has lost its original purpose when it was formed in 1910, Ayo ANC yesiqu, abantwana, abafazi , but for the poor and working class.” Kukho ingcuka ezombhethe ufele legusha abenza ngathi bayathanda i-ANC .”
He painted a picture of himself as someone persecuted by his own comrades for raising issues affecting the poor and the working class, and said he was being thrown out of the window by his own comrades, who were now behaving like people who wanted everyone to be submissive.
Vavi said a month down the line, no charges had been made against him, and though a third of Cosatu’s unions had called for a special congress to determine his future, a few senior people in Cosatu were against that idea.
Vavi shocked many on Friday when he joined hands with the Eastern Cape Health Crisis Coalition, a team of health worker groups that marched to Bhisho to raise concerns over the state of health in the province. Health MEC Sicelo Gqobana said it was an attack on government.
“I’m going to keep on marching if my local hospital is no longer a health care facility but an undertaker,” Vavi said, adding there had been attempts to silence him.
Vavi said while unity was important in the alliance, truth should be told first. “We should be careful of those calling for unity. Even Jim said so. They are calling for unity and want to push me aside.” — msindisif@dispatch.co.za
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