A news article on Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi’s absence from the African National Congress’s (ANC) 99th anniversary celebrations was “deliberately designed” to “manufacture” schisms that do not exist, the union federation said on Monday.
“For example, it makes claims that the Cosatu general secretary said that President Jacob Zuma is presiding over a predatory elite,” Cosatu said in a statement.
It challenged the Mail & Guardian to produce evidence that Vavi had said this.
“Unless the Mail & Guardian issues a clear apology to the general secretary and Cosatu we will be left with no option but to report the paper to the ombudsman.”
New low
According to the article, published in the M&G on January 14, relations between Vavi and top ANC leaders, including Zuma and ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, appeared to have hit a new low, as suggested by Vavi’s absence from the ANC’s January 8 celebrations in Polokwane.
“His no-show at the all-important annual party event, at which Zuma unveiled the ANC’s plans for the year, raised eyebrows in the alliance, with some leaders reading it as a sign of deepening tension between him and the ANC leadership,” the article read.
It said that Zuma was said to have “taken offence” at Vavi’s widely publicised remarks that Zuma was presiding over a “predatory” state plagued by a paralysis of leadership and that ANC leaders were “political hyenas”.
According to the report, a senior alliance leader close to Vavi said the federation leader was no longer on good terms with ANC top brass, including Zuma and Mantashe. “He has stepped on many people’s toes. This [the tension] is deeper than you think.”
‘We stand by our story’
M&G editor-in-chief Nic Dawes responded on Monday: “Cosatu’s spokesperson, Patrick Craven, was contacted about our story on the Wednesday prior to publication, and in the absence of a response from him we sought the views of the union federation’s president, Sdumo Dlamini, and of its KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary, Zet Luzipho, both of whom we quoted at some length. We also attempted unsuccessfully to reach Zwelinzima Vavi.
“We stand by our story, and by our efforts to provide right of reply to Cosatu and its office-bearers.”