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Cosatu will not back Ramaphosa re-election

• Governing alliance partner says that it did not discuss ANC leadership contest, and it decided to remain neutral

Luyolo Mkentane Political Writer mkentanel@businesslive.co.za

Cosatu, which became the first alliance partner to support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s successful campaign for the ANC presidency in 2017, has resolved not to support his bid for re-election at the national elective conference starting on December 16. “That’s because we have not had a discussion about it,” said Cosatu first deputy president Mike Shingange. “Workers were seized with so many things that they needed to attend to, rather than prioritising a discussion about the ANC.”

Cosatu, which became the first alliance partner to support President Cyril Ramaphosa’s successful campaign for the ANC presidency in 2017, has resolved not to support his bid for reelection as ANC leader in the party’s national elective conference starting on December 16.

“That’s because we have not had a discussion about it. Normally, we would discuss the matter at our congress or central executive committee (CEC), where there would be a robust discussion,” said Cosatu first deputy president Mike Shingange.

“This time around, workers were seized with so many things that they needed to attend to, rather than prioritising a discussion about the ANC.”

The labour federation, which has a membership of 1.6-million and supported the ANC in elections since 1994, is angry after the government refused to implement the last part of a three-year wage deal signed at the public service co-ordinating bargaining council (PSCBC) in 2018. The Constitutional Court ruled in February that the government did not have to implement the last leg as unions were “unjustifiably enriched from the impugned” pay deal.

Relations between Cosatu and the ANC took a turn for the worse when public service & administration acting minister Thulas Nxesi unilaterally implemented a final, revised 3% wage increase for public servants, as per the numbers in the mediumterm budget policy statement of October 26.

Public service unions are now threatening to embark on an indefinite strike in support of their demands for a 10% increase, after talks collapsed at the PSCBC. Cosatu affiliate, SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), broke ranks with its sister unions in public service when it accepted the 3% offer.

At its national congress in Midrand in September, Cosatu’s largest affiliates, including the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, SA Municipal Workers Union and the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA, called for the labour federation to immediately dump the ANC and support the SACP in the 2024 general election.

The issue was put to a vote as other affiliates wanted the decision to be deferred to a special congress in 2023. Cosatu has not yet made the results public.

Ramaphosa was expected to address the Cosatu congress, but pulled out at the eleventh hour and was replaced by ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe, who was booed and prevented from addressing delegates.

At the same conference, Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi, a close Ramaphosa ally, called on delegates to defend the ANC, which she said remained the best vehicle to advance workers’ struggles.

Speaking to Business Day on Wednesday, Shingange said discussions about which ANC presidential candidate to support always left the organisation “fractured”.

“This time around we decided to maximise our unity rather than focusing on things that have the potential to divide us over who to support or not to support,” he said. Shingange said that the government’s ill-advised decision to renege on the 2018 wage deal was among issues adding to the problems workers had with the ANC.

In a statement on Wednesday, Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said: “The Cosatu 14th national congress and the CEC meeting that was convened last week did not discuss issues of leadership with regard to the upcoming ANC conference.

“This means that the federation has not formally endorsed any candidate, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.”

Pamla said Cosatu had decided to remain neutral on issues of leadership and focus on conference policy outcomes and organisational resolutions. “Cosatu, therefore, will not be campaigning for any candidate but will support all those elected by the conference,” he said.

“We wish the ANC well in its conference, and we look forward to working with the elected collective to help reconstruct the ANC, and contribute to a robust process of alliance reconfiguration.”

Nelson Mandela University political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast said: “The left of the tripartite alliance projected Ramaphosa, in the build-up to the 2017 national congress, as someone who is worker-friendly. It turns out he is nothing of the sort. He is business-friendly.”

“Ramaphosa said it’s not the role of government to regulate laws of the market forces, and that development must be driven by market forces.

“That’s a neoliberal line of thinking to say government’s role is not to create employment. That never sat well with Cosatu, and there was a whole lot of hullabaloo over those remarks,” said Breakfast.

There had been unhappiness about Ramphosa’s leadership style, he said.

WORKERS WERE SEIZED WITH SO MANY THINGS THAT THEY NEEDED TO ATTEND TO RATHER THAN … DISCUSSION ABOUT THE ANC

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2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

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