Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) on Tuesday dismissed a report that Cosatu’s affiliates are divided over the federation’s decision to support the ANC ahead of the local government elections later this year.
Popcru was reacting to a story published by the Sunday World on Monday claiming that Cosatu’s special central executive committee (CEC) meeting last week descended into bitter personal attacks over support for the ANC.
The tabloid reported that Nehawu and the Communications Workers Union (CWC) wanted other affiliates to dump the ANC at the polls.
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Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said the claims were false.
“Popcru finds these allegations divisive and lacking of any substantial truth and would like to dispel any notion that the internal democratic processes of Cosatu’s 18 affiliates can be reduced to such utterances, whereas all federation decisions are openly debated. Internal democratic processes and debates within Cosatu are its basic foundational basis and without them, the federation would not have stood the test of time,” Mamabolo said in a statement.
“Despite Cosatu’s historic rich culture of robust engagement, we find it unfortunate that there still are elements which are keen on eroding these values and believe the federation should continue robustly engaging without the contents of its meetings being leaked to journalists who have built their careers through peddling alliance factional politics.”
Mamabolo reaffirmed the decision of the special Cosatu CEC meeting, saying the federation’s internal debates should not be misinterpreted for nefarious purposes.
“The federation is more united and committed to confronting present-day challenges faced by workers and the general South African population.”
Despite expressing concern about the reconfiguration of its alliance with the ANC and the SACP, Cosatu said it would continue to support the ANC ahead of the municipal elections.
The CEC meeting concluded that workers did not have the “luxury to indulge in political abstentionism” amid deepening class contestations of both the ANC and the government.
Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe
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