Vavi, the straw that broke the Cosatu’s back
DISGRACED Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi was seemingly right about daggers being drawn against him before his sex scandal erupted a month ago.
That much is obvious by the infighting for the control of the soul of the labour union federation since Vavi admitted to taking it all off for a junior colleague.
The mudslinging, politicking and the reinstate Vavi campaign, with the National Union of Metal Workers of SA (Numsa) in the forefront, cannot be good for the ANC-led tripartite alliance.
It is not possible that all of a sudden and ignited by a man who owned up to his sins and asked for forgiveness, critics at Numsa and elsewhere have lost confidence in Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini.
On Tuesday, a court bid by Numsa to declare Vavi’s suspension unconstitutional and unprecedented was postponed to allow parties to file affidavits. There are other Cosatu affiliates wanting to oppose the application.
SA Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande has come out with guns blazing against leaders who think they are going to take certain affiliates out of Cosatu.
He said they were part of the enemy that wanted to destroy the revolution, and “there can be no problem that is bigger than the unity of Cosatu”.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe also warned: “You have made an assumption that if you decide to leave the ANC, the ANC will become static.
“…you will have an ANC that will grow more and more conservative and once it is more conservative it will be brutal on the working class.”
The SA Municipal Workers Union joined the fray, describing Vavi’s suspension as a witch-hunt.
Indications are that Cosatu has been slowly bleeding for a while, and Vavi’s infidelity was merely the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The ANC needs a strong and united alliance, as Cosatu brings millions of voters to the ruling party.
Whether Vavi is reinstated or not, at the end of this kindergarten party, Cosatu family matter should never have to be decided by the courts and judge who knows nothing about political games.
Vavi failed to keep his pants zipped, and when he got into the act, a man of his wisdom should have known he had addressed his last workers’ rally.
