In an unprecedented move, some of Cosatu’s influential affiliates have overwhelmingly voted to dump the ANC and instead support the South African Communist Party (SACP) to contest the 2024 elections independent of the governing party.
The development saw Cosatu and SACP leaders meet President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday night in a hastily convened private meeting. Details of the meeting have been kept under wraps.
This came after affiliates forced the Cosatu congress to vote on a motion to resolve on supporting the SACP being on the ballot in 2024, which saw the motion allegedly receive 594 votes against 194 who preferred to call a special congress to decide on the matter in May.
The motion came during a dramatic day on Wednesday when general secretaries of Cosatu affiliates agreed in a meeting that the matter of the SACP contesting elections be deferred to a special conference in May to give other affiliates time to consult their members on dumping the ANC.
However, some influential affiliates, which include the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union, National Union Mineworkers (NUM) and the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union rejected the deferral. The three unions forced congress to vote on the matter.
The results of the crucial vote are yet to be officially announced and it was not clear by yesterday why Cosatu decided not to announce them.
Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the results will be released after the next meeting of the federation’s central executive committee, together with the declaration. “Officially, the results are not out so I can’t comment on the numbers you are quoting,” he said.
Yesterday, ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe warned of a split in the ANC vote should the SACP contest elections.
Asked about the development, Mantashe said: “It is fine, as long as they know that they will be fishing from the same pond. It is not going to increase anything; it will split what is there.”
Both Mantashe and Ramaphosa are former leaders of NUM.
As the future of the tripartite alliance between the ANC, SACP and Cosatu teeters on the brink of collapse, the trade union federation’s president, Zingiswa Losi, said the organisation can survive on its own.
In an interview with Sunday World, Losi, who was re-elected unopposed, said there have been instances where municipalities run by opposition parties implemented demands of Cosatu which the ANC had failed to meet.
Losi also serves in the ANC national executive committee.
“Indeed, we can survive outside of the alliance. I’m saying that because there is no battle that we have won that we did not fight for, whether we fought for it in the alliance meetings, whether we fought for it at Nedlac (National Economic Development and Labour Council).
“We did not resolve to get out of the alliance. But workers are saying we can be in alliance with the ANC, but we are very clear that we are not going to rely on the fact that we are in an alliance with the ANC and therefore we will mobilise for the victory at all costs.”
Losi’s comments came after Cosatu concluded its 14th congress, and the anger of Cosatu members towards the ANC and its government was palpable from the very first day of the congress. On Monday, delegates heckled Mantashe and stopped him from delivering his address.
Some of the delegates asked about the whereabouts of Ramaphosa, who was scheduled to address the gathering.
It has emerged that some in the president’s inner circle advised him not to attend the congress. A source close to the president said they could not allow him to be embarrassed for the second time at a Cosatu event.
Ramaphosa was forced to abandon his address at a May Day celebrations event organised by Cosatu in Rustenburg, after angry Sibanye-Stillwater workers refused to let him speak.
The push for the SACP to contest elections looked set to face opposition from within the party. An SACP central committee (CC) member said some of the affiliates pushing for the party to contest elections had stopped supporting it financially.
“The same affiliates that want the party to contest stopped giving the party resources. Elections require millions of rand.”
Another CC member said the party was likely to base its decision on the kind of leadership that emerged from the ANC elective conference in December. “If indeed the ANC is stolen by criminals, the party will have no choice but to contest.”
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa has told residents of Kimberley that the country will be in trouble should the alliance collapse.
“We will not allow the alliance to split. The alliance is going to get stronger. We are not going to allow the alliance to fade away,” he said during the ANC’s Letsema campaign to reconnect with communities in the Northern Cape. “Without the alliance, this country will be in trouble,” he added. He said the party plans to meet its alliance partners to resolve differences.
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