The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says the alliance between itself, the African National Congress and the South African Communist Party is stronger than ever, and that differences on how to handle political instability in Zimbabwe will cease to be an issue.
Speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Saturday, Cosatu chairperson Willie Madisha said the tripartite alliance is in perfect shape.
”We are more united than ever before,” Madisha said at a media briefing held after a two-day summit between the alliance partners in Johannesburg.
The briefing was also attended by the ANC’s secretary general, Kgalema Motlanthe; SACP leader Blade Nzimande; and Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi.
Motlanthe said the Zimbabwean issue did not arise at the summit.
”The issue of Zimbabwe never arose,” he said, adding: ”From time to time, there might be matters on which we agree to disagree.”
Vavi, an outspoken critic of the government’s policy of quiet diplomacy towards the Zimbabwean government, said it is impossible for the alliance to agree on each and every issue.
”Each component of the alliance does lots of international work in its own right,” he said. ”There will never be a situation where the alliance agrees on each an every issue. It is impossible.”
Vavi said: ”We do not anticipate that the issue of Zimbabwe will be an issue that causes strain in the alliance.”
The Zimbabwean government has been accused by the country’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change of rigging an election on March 31, which was won resoundingly by President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.
Mugabe’s government has been accused of wide-scale human rights abuses and of plunging the once-thriving Zimbabwe economy into a state of ruin after embarking on an often-violent campaign to redistribute land owned by white farmers.
Cosatu, South Africa’s largest labour movement, which has a partnership with the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions, held a demonstration at Beitbridge, on the eve of the March 31 elections, to protest the treatment of workers in that country.
Focus on local elections
The alliance said it will prefer to focus on ensuring an overwhelming ANC victory in South Africa’s upcoming local government elections.
”All alliance partners committed themselves to throwing all their resources and efforts in ensuring an overwhelming ANC victory in the forthcoming local government elections,” a statement from the alliance said.
The summit also discussed unemployment and ways to create more jobs, saying urgent intervention is needed to stop the current wave of job losses.
”Urgent intervention is required, and as an alliance we are determined to ensure that decisive steps are taken in the short term,” the statement said.
It said one measure that can be taken is to make sure that the rand is valued competitively, while business needs to treat retrenchment as the last option.
”Government should align all of its policies to support the retention and creation of decent work opportunities,” the statement said.
The rand currently trades at about R6,20 to the dollar and R8 to the euro, a level that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says is too strong.
The IMF says a further appreciation of the rand could undermine South Africa’s export performance, which would lead to further job losses.
According to the Statistics South Africa’s Labour Force Survey, which was released earlier this month, 3,4-million of the country’s 15-million economically active South Africans were unemployed in September last year. — Sapa