ANC lekgotla: Cosatu lambasts squabbling leaders

Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi has lashed out at bickering ANC leaders, saying it was unbecoming of senior leaders in government to attack the country’s constitution.

Losi addressed the ANC lekgotla which is being held this weekend.

Referring to recent public spats following Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s open letter criticising the constitution and the judiciary, Losi said the governing party was infiltrated by factions “running amok” and leaders insulting each other on public platforms, and with no action taken against them.

Those who wanted to leave should do so, she added.

“We deploy members to represent the movement and not themselves in government. Their mandate is the ANC’s election manifesto.

“Yet we are now subjected to persons who swore an oath to defend the Constitution, running to the media to rubbish the very constitution this movement of Madiba drafted,” Losi said in a prepared speech.

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The ANC fails to discipline its members, and thus creating a culture of mediocrity, she said.

“It is unacceptable and unbecoming for senior leaders and Cabinet members to attack the constitution. The failure of the ANC to discipline deployees is feeding a culture of mediocrity.

“In fact, we are seen to reward and promote those who have been found wanting. 

“If comrades are tired, then they must leave. As we emerge from a decade of state capture, we cannot tolerate ANC public representatives publicly attacking our constitution.”

Turning to the ANC’s plan to propose an amendment of the Political Party Funding law which it voted for last year, the Cosatu leader said it was disappointing that the party blames the law for its inability to pay staff salaries.

The ANC wants the current R100,000 threshold to be increased to R250,000 or R500,000 per year, and that the amount of R15 million a single individual or entity can donate be increased to between R50 million and R100 million.

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The workers have had continued payment delays and no increment for three years, even though the law came into effect in April 2021, said Losi.

“In our desperation to raise funds, we must not gut the Party Funding Act.  This is a progressive Act, the ANC was correct to pass it, we must now defend it. 

“We may say increase the limits on donations, but we must not touch the requirements to disclose the source of donations, unless we are saying we receive funds from criminals.”

The ongoing lekgotla is expected to tackle Sisulu’s spat with President Cyril Ramaphosa, seen by many as an act of defiance by one of ANC’s longest running cabinet member.

She is backed by the anti-Ramaphosa faction, known as the Radical Economic Transformation (RETs), who are fighting tooth and nail to weaken Ramaphosa’s support ahead of the party’s elective congress in December.

The meeting will conclude on Sunday. It was preceded by a two-day ANC National Executive Committee meeting.

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