Gwede Mantashe has told Cosatu it is divided and that there is a split in its top leadership.
The national executive committee (NEC) of the ANC has vowed that a new task team would not undermine the team of founding leaders of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the party said on Sunday.
"The task team of the ANC will not undermine the team of founder leaders of Cosatu but will seek to complement the work they are doing already," secretary general Gwede Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.
Mantashe was speaking following the two-day NEC conference of the ANC held in Pretoria.
He said the task team, consisting of eight members, would be formed and is expected to engage with the different affiliates of the federation.
Mantashe said they will not all be together at all times. "We can take three comrades to a union and another two to deal with another union," he said.
"If for example I can't speak in the presence of Mantashe, the ANC will say 'Mantashe, go to that union because 10 others will be ready to talk to Mantashe'."
He said the NEC reaffirmed that the party had a revolutionary duty and responsibility to work for maximum unity of all the alliance partners.
Mantashe said by engaging the federation, the alliance partners would be encouraged to be more circumspect about the public articulation that can contribute to the deepening of the divisions. "There was an agreement that the ANC should not shy away from explaining principles on any matter," he said.
A report would be compiled after the meetings between task team members and the affiliates of the federation. – Sapa