Eddie Koch
THE fate of the tripartite alliance was in the balance on Thursday as thousands of delegates to Cosatus annual congress discussed a resolution designed to strengthen the independent role of workers in politics.
Delegates say the outcome of the debates will determine the future of an alliance between the ANC, the South African Communist Party and Cosatu that swept the ANC to victory in the April elections.
Three positions have emerged. The majority view is Cosatu should remain in the alliance but retain the right to organise independent campaigns — including industrial action — to ensure the ANC- led government of national unity acts in the interests of workers and the poor.
Before the congress members of some unions suggested Cosatu should pull out of the alliance and act as an independent political vehicle for the working class. The other line of thought among this workerist lobby was Cosatu and the SACP should sever formal ties with the ANC and reconstitute a broad movement to the left of the government.
A common strand running through all three trends is that the government is under strong pressure from its more conservative members to slow down on the reconstruction and development programme and other measures designed to improve the livelihoods of the urban and rural poor.
Delegates were on Thursday debating a compromise resolution which suggested Cosatu stay in the alliance but use its collective strength to act as a bulwark against conservative forces constraining the governments social welfare programmes.
We need to build a grassroots movement that will put pressure on the the ANC to deliver on the RDP, says the motion.
To do this, the resolution suggests civic groups under the umbrella of the South African National Civic Organisation be brought into the alliance.
It suggests the ANC — and its ministers, parliamentarians and structures — must become more accountable to rank-and-file members and to Cosatu. The resolution suggests holding a four-way summit of the top leadership from parties to the alliance as well as Sanco to devise ways of ensuring this happens.
The resolution states — in what could be seen as a warning to the federations allies — that this alliance is not permanent and it shall from time to time be reviewed as conditions dictate.
The congress noted that local government elections, to be held next year, are a vital stage in the struggle for the rights of workers and the poor. A separate resolution to be debated was aimed at creating, with the help of civics, a coalition of forces of civil society to contest and dominate the local elections.
Cosatu secretary general Sam Shilowa said that whichever way the debate about the future of organised labours role in the alliance went, it was important for members to consider how to play a role as the guardians of democracy without becoming a conveyor belt for the ANC.