Cosatu stresses 'unity and cohesion' as special congress resumes

The battle for the soul of Cosatu was expected to resume at 9am on Tuesday morning after factional infighting derailed the first day of the special national congress.

Unity was the objective but division prevailed as warring factions battled each other over an ailing Cosatu constitution on Monday.

The trade union federation was at pains on Tuesday morning to emphasise the objective and posted the same tweet multiple times — “Top story on top of the hour: #Unity and #cohesion of #COSATU to fight for bread and butter issues” — each time appending the Twitter handle of well-known journalists and political commentators.

An earlier tweet read: “Day Two to resume at Midrand from 09h00....#consciousness #genuineCohesion #genuineUnity”.

After nine hours of delays on Monday‚ the embattled federation finally voted on the disputed credentials. Despite the vote the shadow of expelled Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA loomed large as delegates fought into the night over the agenda.

At the centre of the chaos was the participation of the Liberated Metalworkers Union of SA (Limusa) as well as the continued stay of Zingiswa Losi — Cosatu second deputy president — in her position despite her expulsion as a Numsa shop steward.

Led by the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu)‚ dissident unions halted the adoption of the credentials report with Limusa the bone of contention.

Fawu argued that Limusa — which was roped into Cosatu to replace the expelled Numsa — had not fully complied with the federation’s constitution by failing to issue Cosatu with audited financial statements to prove that it is a going concern. Limusa’s entry into Cosatu has also not been endorsed by a congress.

The wrangling over Limusa and Losi delayed an entire day’s proceedings in what has been a highly anticipated congress aimed at patching up deep-seated divisions in the once mighty federation‚ which celebrates its 30th anniversary later this year.

By late on Monday night‚ delegates were arguing behind closed doors about the possibility of bringing in the Independent Electoral Commission to preside over the voting process to determine whether the congress moves ahead with the adoption of the credentials.

This proved a major bone of contention‚ with some unions arguing that delegates could not vote on a constitutional matter.

African National Congress (ANC) senior leaders invited to the special congress looked on as their biggest alliance failed to agree on the way forward.

Those in attendance‚ including ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize and ANC chairman Baleka Mbete‚ were unable to convince the warring affiliates to agree on terms of the congress.

Vavi was active on Twitter reminding delegates not to resort to violence to have their say.

“To delegates who think they can reclaim Cosatu please remember nothing more worth than your life or limbs — avoid violence it’s not worth it ‚” he said.

By 7pm on Monday night‚ the congress was still battling to agree on credentials‚ but a compromise was later reached that allowed members to vote by a show of hands.