The affiliates of the Congress of South African Trade Unions want to elect their own representatives directly to Parliament, rather than ride piggyback on the African National Congress.
That was the message during Wednesday’s debate on political resolutions at the Cosatu congress. Affiliates shot down the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) proposal that the ANC be persuaded to allocate 20% of its parliamentary seats to federation nominees.
National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) general secretary Gwede Mantashe explained: ”We are a labour body, not a political party.”
A NUM motion calling for a mixed electoral system, 65% constituency- based and 35% based on proportional representation, was carried by the
2 000 delegates.
”The proposals supported the general principle that working class issues should be more strongly represented in Parliament,” said Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven.
Numsa noted that ”having people from Cosatu in Parliament through the ANC has not delivered necessarily pro-worker policies”.
Also strongly supported by delegates was the NUM’s proposal that support for the ANC ”must maintain the space for the working class movement to protest against any policy that is tilting the balance of forces against the working class”.
The proposals formed part of the resolution on the 2004 elections, the final version of which was not available at the time of going to press.
Another mineworkers’ proposal, calling for the ANC leader of a province to automatically be elected premier, was also rejected. Currently, the president chooses provincial premiers.
Craven explained that only the ANC, through its congress, could change the system of electing premiers.
Delegates said they agreed with the proposal, but since they could do nothing at the Cosatu congress to change it, ”we should not waste our time on it”.
Cosatu openly indicated a reorientation towards the South African Communist Party as a political vehicle for workers’ rights. In alliance politics, the ANC has always been the undisputed leader.
A resolution on building the SACP, mooted by Numsa and the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), proposed that the federation intensify the debit order campaign for membership subscriptions to the party. The emphasis on upgrading the SACP’s status is seen as another attempt to strengthen the junior alliance partners, who feel they have been shabbily treated and ignored by the ANC.
Cosatu’s strategic shift was underlined when the general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi remarked during the presentation of his political report: ”The SACP is our only political assurance and insurance.” The theme was taken up by SACP chief Blade Nzimande in an address entitled Deepen the Strategic Relationship between the SACP and Cosatu, with and for the Workers and the Poor.
Senior communists and Cosatu leaders took care, however, to tip their caps to the ANC — while asserting their ownership of the ruling party. A CWU resolution on rebuilding the ANC was also unanimously supported.
A resolution on building the federation called for targeting craft unions and associations, taking up merger discussions with other federations
in the country and ”implementing the principle of ‘one country one federation’”.
The federation also vowed to take on a review of all macroeconomic policies (including trade policies) to ensure that ”they create, not destroy, quality jobs”.
Cosatu has resolved to call on the government to increase the child support grant to R200 and make it available for children up to the age of 18. The federation has also proposed that pensions should be increased to R800 and disability grant to R200. Cosatu will also continue its campaign for the Basic Income Grant. Craven said the federation would ensure that the resolutions were monitored.