A delegation of the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) will meet members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions in Limpopo on Thursday.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said talks would probably get under way at around 9am at the Aventura resort in Tshipise.
The Zimbabwean delegation arrived in South Africa late on Wednesday night after crossing into the country at the Beit Bridge border post.
Earlier on Wednesday a 20-strong Cosatu delegation were refused entry into the country when it arrived at the immigration counters of the Harare International airport.
At the airport each delegate was presented with a deportation order.
On their return, Cosatu Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi described the deportation as ”barbaric and illegal,” saying that it boded ill for the future of the continent.
”Nepad [the New Partnership for Africa’s Development] will stand no chance if a government such as Zimbabwe willingly disregards its own laws in this manner,” he told reporters.
Vavi said the continent would go nowhere if its leaders could act with impunity.
Meanwhile, the Cosatu incident will not affect relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported Zimbabwean Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi as saying on Thursday.
The previous time Cosatu attempted a similar visit, the delegation was summarily ejected from Zimbabwe. In October last year they flew in to Harare to meet the ZCTU, but were detained at the airport and booted out of the country on a bus in the middle of the night.
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama refused to comment on Cosatu’s claim that its deportation from Zimbabwe was illegal.
”Whether it is illegal or legal is neither here nor there for us as the ANC. We respect the sovereignty of Zimbabwe,” he said.
The matter would discussed by the alliance partners in a meeting next week.
Vavi said when the two federations met on Thursday, they would discuss what their next move should be.
He mentioned possible future demonstrations and marches on the borders of the country, but said the final decisions would made at the meeting.
”We do not require permission from the Minister of Labour to hold discussions with our counterparts,” said Vavi, adding that the meeting would serve to demonstrate the differences between the countries.
Vavi said it was a statement by South African Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana that gave Zimbabwe the courage to turn Cosatu
away.
Mdladlana had said the visit was pointless and would seriously undermine his relations with his Zimbabwean counterparts.
”We would not have been chucked out if he had not made that statement. It was very unfortunate,” Vavi said.
Mdladlana could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. – Sapa