Statement of the Nine (9) COSATU affiliates
April 4 2014
As the Cosatu affiliated unions who called for the setting aside of the unconstitutional and unlawful suspension of the Cosatu General Secretary, Comrade Zwelinzima Vavi, we welcome the judgment of the South Gauteng High Court which has vindicated our long-standing belief that the suspension was politically engineered to undo the democratic choice of worker delegates who in the September 2012 11th Cosatu National Congress democratically elected Comrade Vavi despite attempts to have him removed.
The return to office of the Cosatu General Secretary signifies and confirms our commitment to a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, worker controlled, independent, militant, revolutionary and anti-imperialist Cosatu that is capable of acting in the best interest of its members and the working class to attack and defeat the crises of poverty, unemployment, inequality and unbridled corruption in our class divided society.
The return to office of Comrade Vavi must see the execution of the our collective mandate to engineer a Lula Moment steeped in the most resolute implementation of the Freedom Charter. Chief amongst his immediate tasks, we anticipate Comrade Vavi's immediate execution of the Cosatu September 2012 11th National Congress resolutions as well as the March 2013 Cosatu Organising, Campaigns and Collective Bargaining Conference resolutions. This progressive approach shall liberate Cosatu from its current paralysis.
Whilst we are relieved that this costly but avoidable court battle is over, we hope the Cosatu leadership will have the political and organisational discipline to respect the decision of the court and abide by it fully.
The judgment offers those who have hitherto been pursuing a destructive agenda an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to unity of Cosatu.
We take the opportunity to thank the legal team for a sterling piece of work. We owe a debt of gratitude to Comrade Vavi's family especially his wife Noluthando who has been a pillar of strength, the leaders and members of all Cosatu Affiliates including the nine progressive trade unions and all 19 affiliates and Cosatu provinces who have been calling for Comrade Vavi's reinstatement and the convening of a Cosatu special national congress as well as ordinary workers who have supported the cause to defend Comrade Vavi's rights.
Finally, we thank organs of civil society and broader society who have yearned for the critical and profound voice of the Cosatu General Secretary in the midst of daily leaderless service deliver protests, uncoordinated worker strikes, misappropriation of public funds, crass materialism and accumulation of personal wealth in a sea of poverty.
Statement issued by Karl Cloete, NUMSA Deputy General Secretary, April 4 2014
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