SAFTU preoccupation with COSATU a sign of infirmity
26 September 2017
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) finds rather eccentric the continued obsession demonstrated by Mr Vavi and his friends against the Congress of South African Trade Union’s (COSATU) planned national strike action to take place across the country tomorrow.
For a union that left COSATU 5 years ago, one would imagine that by now, they would be talking about their own federation, considering the fact that they keep saying they are going to form a radical federation. We never thought that the term ‘radical’ meant that 5 years later, people would be continuing to speak nothing about themselves but COSATU.
They usually pretend not to be interested in alliance politics, but they have clandestinely been meeting with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. We have not forgotten that the very people who want to act as high priests today are in fact the same people who, in the dark of night, went to Nkandla to lobby for themselves positions without even consulting structures of the alliance.
The fact that they have depleted their strike fund, and resolved to stop workers in the auto-industry sector from going on strike, and forced them to accept 7,5% is reflective of their diverted attention and hidden weakness among others.
They should be spending more time dealing with the internal factions, purges, the suspensions of officials and shop stewards that are currently slaying their union. Mr Vavi also needs to spend more time cleaning the mess in NUMSA instead of preoccupying himself with COSATU.
For most workers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to take seriously a grouping which calls itself a federation while struggling to provide proof of paid-up membership. One cannot call oneself a workers’ federation while one does not have workers or can’t show that one represents workers.
This insanity can only be reflective of people anguishing from a 5-year political hangover and an identity crisis. COSATU is correctly in no position to nurse such, especially in the midst of the many worker issues it continues to address after many failed attempts to weaken it.
This is but a small living cult that is preoccupied with talking about people. COSATU has over 1,7 million members, yet these cult front-runners choose to reduce everything to individuals.
Mr Vavi is currently interfering and imposing on his affiliates whom to elect and whom not to elect, just as he recently misled one of his affiliates into thinking, for the first time in its lifespan, it can take to the streets and become victorious over a matter that was to be resolved through bargaining processes, which led to those who participated forfeiting their salaries.
We view this malicious attack as yet another failed attempt to scandalously cast doubt among workers and usurp their trust for their personal ends, but most importantly, we are still awaiting to hear exactly what it is they are doing for workers besides gossiping about COSATU.
Our members who are off-duty will be going out in their numbers to attend the COSATU national strike action in various provinces as our federation not only intensifies its noble call for an end to corruption and state capture, but also debunks the carefully propagated myth that it is dead.
Issued by Richard Mamabolo, Media and Communications officer, 26 September 2017
