COSATU corrects false statement in Mail&Guardian

The Congress of South African Trade Unions wishes to correct a false statement in an article by Matuma Letsoalo and Charles Molele - "Vavi's exile will break Cosatu" - in the Mail&Guardian on 16 August 2013 (see here).

The article alleged that "Zenzo Mahlangu, the general secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday that the special central executive committee (CEC) decided that Vavi must return all assets belonging to Cosatu pending the outcome of his disciplinary hearing scheduled for mid-September".

The article added that "Embattled Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi has been stripped of a host of employee benefits and perks, including his credit card, iPad, cellphone allowance and company car, following the federation's decision to put him on special leave on Wednesday night."

It continues, again allegedly quoting Mahlangu, to say that: "Another condition is that Vavi may not go to the office without first notifying Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini or acting general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali. We decided that he must bring all the assets, including the keys, credit card, the iPad and the laptop. Everything that belongs to the federation must be brought back. Some of the benefits he enjoyed helped him to perform the duties of Cosatu. Now he is no longer performing those duties ... If I were him I would resign and save face. I wonder how he will come back."

None of this is true; The CEC made no such decisions, and furthermore the meeting resolved that every individual and structure involved must respect internal processes, without exception, and issues must only be communicated to the media by National Office Bearers.

Statement issued by Patrick Craven, COSATU national spokesperson, August 16 2013

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