Vavi rejects Saftu’s ‘unlawful’ attempt to suspend him

The general secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), Zwelinzima Vavi, has hit back at the federation’s national office bearers’ (NOBs) threat to place him on suspension over a number of alleged transgressions.

This after Saftu’s president Mac Chavalala this week served Vavi with a letter of intent to place him on precautionary suspension, after a meeting of the labour federation’s NOBs on Monday.

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In the letter, Saftu gave Vavi until the close of business on Thursday to provide reasons on why he should not be suspended, pending investigations into his alleged violations of Saftu’s constitution, breach of administration and finance policy, among other allegations.

But Vavi said on Wednesday he was surprised by the letter as the decision to suspend him had already been taken during Monday’s meeting, which he attended.

Vavi hits back

In a letter addressed to Saftu’s NOBs, dated 16 March 2022, Vavi rejected the officials’ attempts to suspend him, describing their conduct as unlawful and unconstitutional.

Vavi insisted that the NOBs were usurping the powers of Saftu’s national executive committee (NEC) by threatening to suspend him.

He said only the NEC could take such a decision to suspend any office bearer or official of the federation for sufficient cause until the matter is decided at the next meeting of the committee.

“Be therefore advised that national office bearers cannot usurp the powers of the national executive committee. Therefore, your so-called ‘decision’ is unlawful.

“In the circumstances, I am entitled in law to continue to report for duty as per normal and I reserve all my rights in terms of the Saftu constitution and in law,” Vavi’s letter read.

‘Wild allegations’

The veteran trade unionist also rejected the NOB’s ultimatum for him to provide reasons on why he should not be suspended.

He described the claims against him as “deliberately vague, spurious, wild, and unsubstantiated”.

“It seems evident that these wild allegations are designed to cast the net wide in order to justify a ‘political decision’ taken elsewhere which has nothing to do with the allegations,” Vavi said.

Vavi said during the meeting of the NOBs the allegations levelled against him were never mentioned. He questioned why the federation never furnished him with the details behind the allegations against him.

‘Decision taken elsewhere’

Vavi also claimed that Saftu was trying to lay the ground for a “predetermined illegal and unconstitutional” decision taken elsewhere to remove him from the federation.

“In the national office bearers meeting, the national treasurer presented credit card transactions claiming that they caused eyebrows to be raised. She made an example of the R1, 800 airtime, Gautrain and Bolt.

“There was not even the decency to ask me to explain the so-called suspicious transactions in the meeting,” he said.

Vavi added that he would compile a detailed account of all the transactions that were presented to the NOBs on Monday, and he would present them to Saftu’s national finance committee, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday.

He said the structure was constitutionally empowered to peruse all transactions of the federation and to hold him accountable.

“Lastly, let me warn anyone and everyone that attempts to destroy this federation that many of us have worked very hard to build shall not succeed,” he said.

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