Cosatu affiliates demand Vavi call be made public

THE suspension of Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi by the federation’s central executive committee (CEC) three months ago has pitted the provincial Cosatu leadership against its affiliates.

This follows a provincial executive committee meeting and a shop stewards’ council where a resolution was passed to force provincial office bearers to publicly announce the province’s decision to call for the reinstatement of Vavi.

This puts Cosatu provincial office bearers in a tight spot as, according to chairman Phumelele Saziwa, they can’t speak against a CEC decision.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, Saziwa said they had asked the national Cosatu body for advice, as they had been asked twice by their affiliates to call for a media conference to publicly communicate the decision to call for Vavi’s reinstatement.

Last week, during the chaotic shop stewards council, which saw National Union of Minewo president Senzeni Zokwana, who was attending as an ANC deployee, booed off stage, eight affiliates voted for the resolution to be made public. There has yet to be a press conference in this regard.

Said Saziwa: “. . . comrades fail to understand operations of the province, versus the national decisions. The province only implements decisions of the CEC, we have no role to question the decisions of the CEC.

“But unions can say the decision is wrong and they can take it up with the CEC,” he said, adding that unions knew the rules and by pushing for the press conference, they were setting the provincial officials up for disciplinary action.