AN OPEN LETTER TO COMRADE MUGWENA MALULEKE, ALL SADTU NATIONAL OFFICE BEARERS AND THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Dear Comrades, I painstakingly resolved to write to you as a last resort to draw your urgent attention to the perpetual frustration, rootlessness and indignation of members caused by the clearly nuanced institutionalised factional divisions in SADTU. This giant union was formed in 1990 with many progressive objectives, amongst those was participation in a transformative programme of national reconstruction and development and dedicated servicing of its members.
The unprecedented perpetual stew of divisions in this organisation blights the very historic foundations in allusion. Through my experience as a member, I have always revered your leadership and that of your predecessors albeit the challenges that the organisation had to navigate as a fast growing union.
My unflinching love and commitment to this organisation and its well documented revolutionary legacy propels my resolve to decry and strongly condemn your strange obsession in pursuing the atrocious persecution of comrade Thobile Ntola, the President of SADTU. I am neither afraid nor apologetic to put on record that your very shocking and strange obsession in pursuit of Ntola and all those narrowly perceived to be a threat to the organisation has now degenerated to a delusion and paranoia.
The uncontested mirror of history corroborates on how President Ntola has been unceasingly lumbered with inconsistencies and irregularities under the guise of internal disciplinary process that has proved to be a witch hunt and a kangaroo court. The prolonged suspension of the president coupled with the dubious bussing and accommodation of some members of the same organisation (by the General Secretary through his sms issued on the 13th April) to a scheduled disciplinary hearing of comrade Ntola is a travesty of justice. In these instances, you conducted yourself both unconstitutionally and very counterrevolutionary. This is despite your falsely projected desperate demeanour of a "true revolutionary and custodian of SADTU constitution". I have no qualms with comrade Ntola or any other member being subjected to the internal processes of the organisation, but I will always have serious reservations when internal processes are used to settle scores either personal or political.
Furthermore, it's my unequivocated belief that no leader is beyond reproach; that includes comrade Ntola and the entire leadership collective at national level, the National Working Committee and National Executive Committee. Comrade Ntola's suspension remains a gimmick to deal with General Secretary of COSATU, Zwelinzima Vavi and all leaders now expediently and narrowly perceived to be anti ANC government because of a principled position of advancing the resolutions of COSATU's last National Congress. What calibre of a cadre is that? The one that is desperate to divide and bleed our own organisation by dispensing patronage through abusing membership subscriptions. Firstly, membership subscriptions were grossly abused in a court case against comrade Vavi, a case that has now not only exploded in your faces but is continuing to embarrass SADTU against its class adversaries. On whose mandate are you acting and which class agenda are you pursuing? These are vexing questions that only time will answer.
In addition to this witting or unwitting liquidation of SADTU, you continue to jealously protect some leaders who in their own respect deserve to be duly suspended and investigated because of serious allegations of corrupt practises and flouting of organisational protocol. What more disrepute qualifies for immediate suspension than the media exposed scandal of selling posts by leaders of SADTU in KZN? Your silence in this regard is really deafening.
For me it is not a coincidence that this category of leadership have now become dedicated praise singers and self-confessed lackeys of your antiquated dictatorial style of leadership. They are busy planting seedbeds of factional divisions in all lower structures of the organisations. They invade offices and structural meetings with intent of undermining leadership. Your shop stewards of factional divisions will stop at nothing at casting both ideological and political aspersions on elected leadership. They have learned the trade from their Master. For one thing, the now highly debated, National General Council's legitimacy and authenticity has been totally liquidated because of selective implementation of resolutions. Unfortunately you are chief protagonists in that regard.
The Council in reference amongst other things resolved to support the AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS in the upcoming 2014 elections. However, your practical and honest commitment in the realisation of that call remains clouded by the current perpetual strife in SADTU. In the branch where I reside, there is a secretly sponsored clique that takes marching orders from you in clear subversion of leadership structures at lower level. They learn from you, the art of being more ANC and therefore implying more revolutionary astuteness than everybody. They claim to be sole custodians of the "pure revolutionary line" whilst in fact they are drowning in adventurism.
They have their cars branded whilst the ones used by those whose allegiance is mischievously clouded by jaundiced perceptions of intending to form a new party with Vavi will not be branded to desperately project that as decampaining the ANC. The dirty privileges, the pathetic untruths and plots in SADTU serve not only to decampaign the ANC but are very inimical to the true practical unity of COSATU.
The SADTU of today is poignantly characterised by suspensions of leaders across provinces, serious allegations of corruption not acted upon by yourself. The recent well publicised scandal of SADTU selling posts, even those occupied by warm bodies (living persons) is a very serious indictment on your leadership. I challenge you to act decisively on all those implicated in such acts of barbarism. Your explanation to the media regarding a purported investigation of the scandal by the NEC is pathetic lies as there was no such investigations in the first place.
This exercise of tyranny in our headquarters is a perversion that has inevitably aroused the indignation of members albeit dividing them along lines of loyalty based on principle and blind loyalty, a faithful servant of patronage.
Anyone who dares to raise these shenanigans will be branded with all sorts of derogatory labels such as anarchists, vigilantes, tribalists, counterrevolutionaries to mention just a few. All this rot is proliferated with easy dexterity and impunity and everybody else must keep quite because the leadership has spoken. I ask, leadership for whom and in whose interest? Many members including the founders of this union are fed with distorted and dogmatic interpretations of democratic centralism that is designed to confine the true owners of this organisation, the members in the periphery. Democratic centralism presupposes participatory democracy, unity and accountable leadership to the members.
The genesis of our own revolutionary struggle since the historic days of the 1955 Freedom Charter in Kliptown taught us the significance of the masses making their voice heard in decision making. This fertilised the ground for leadership accountability and definitely not the new cult of authority that is pervading both in SADTU and other affiliates of the Federation. I am wilfully through conscious conviction joining those voices who are unapologetic non-conformist in robustly condemning the cult of authority by the current crop of leadership, including yourselves. I put it to you that any cult in a revolutionary organisation, either be it personality or authority is self-defeatist and must be strongly condemned.
The general secretary, the leadership collective in the NWC and NEC must end this rot today and not tomorrow. The membership is terribly agonising by this uncertainty and insecurity created by the excruciatingly painful plight of the president and all suspended leaders. Paranoia and fear is ripping this organisation apart. The recent gruesome sight of panga, axe and knobkerrie-wielding Sadtu paraphernalia clad men in company of an armed NEC member ( SADTU KZN Provincial Secretary) flanked by men in black suits charging at peaceful protestors displaying posters in front of their headquarters is reminiscent of the apartheid sponsored vigilante wars. Such unprecedented developments points to one thing and that is absence of leadership.
You cannot become the instruments of abusing statutes to mock the very concept of due process and the rule of law. Refrain from allowing our union and the federation to be used as conduits to pursue careerist aspirations by those who are ready to bleed these organisations for desperate want of positions in the bureaucracy.
I have personally taken the risk of being labelled but it does not matter to me anymore as I have suffered enough prejudice. You can no longer afford to hide behind the sacred untouchableness of wrong habits, in particular by yourselves. I am making this call because I firmly believe that the status qou in the organisation is tantamount to disserving members. Union subscriptions must be used to benefit members but not to turn them into machines of rampant patronage, well-oiled to fight narrow agendas. If your conscience is still alive you will think hard, self introspect deeply and heed the call to either shape up or resign.
HANDS OFF PRESIDENT NTOLA AND ALL SUSPENDED LEADERS. UNITED WE STAND BUT DIVIDED WE FALL!
Thank you in advance.
Mphatheli Hani, SADTU Mthatha branch chairperson, writing in his personal capacity.
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