The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has warned that it will not be a “pushover” amid ongoing tensions between its alliance partners, the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Speaking to YOUFM and Newsnote at Moruleng Stadium outside Rustenburg on Saturday, COSATU President Zingisa Losi said the federation’s unity is of paramount importance and must not be compromised by disputes between the two political parties.
“We are coming from the Central Executive Committee (CEC), the highest decision-making body of COSATU, and we were very clear that we are not going to be a pushover for the two political parties,” Losi said.
“We said the unity of COSATU is critical and important for workers. The SACP and ANC must sort themselves out. That is why we said they must discuss the modalities. We are not going to disrespect the SACP and say they must not implement their decisions, but they must also respect us.”
COSATU has written to both organisations, calling for a tripartite alliance meeting to allow the SACP to fully explain its recent decision and its implications for the alliance.
“We haven’t received any response from the parties. They have been meeting separately without us, but we want that tripartite meeting so that we understand exactly where the bottlenecks are. We must find one another,” Losi said.
She reiterated that the unity of the alliance should not be undermined and that differences among partners must be resolved amicably and without delay.
Meanwhile, COSATU has called on the ANC to revisit its deployment criteria to ensure that councillors and government deployees are capable, committed, and focused on serving communities.
“People don’t eat slogans. People expect tangible service delivery. We cannot serve people on the basis of history, but on the present and the future. The ANC must consider deploying young, educated cadres to work for communities,” Losi concluded.
