The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Thursday it will not back off from its statements, including those about signs that South Africa ”may be drifting towards dictatorship”.
Spokesperson Patrick Craven said Cosatu is ”not surprised at all by the statement of Cabinet and business rejecting this assertion”.
”Of course those who enjoy the power they have accumulated as a result of undemocratic practices will see nothing wrong with this,” Craven said.
”Business, who has been the main beneficiary of the transformation of the economy for the past 12 years, will see nothing wrong with the marginalisation of the alliance and the generally ‘low-intensity’ democracy.
”They have benefited immensely from the status quo.”
Craven went on to say that Cosatu welcomed an invitation from the national executive committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) to discuss these matters.
The union body said it would not comment further.
Craven also condemned ”attempts by the media and others to personalise and sensationalise the serious issues we are raising by falsely suggesting that the statement was some kind of attack on President Mbeki as a person”.
Cosatu said it equally condemns the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s ”deliberate misrepresentation of the interview it did with ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe”.
”At no stage has the ANC secretary general called on the alliance to ‘refrain from making baseless statements’.
”These words in quotes are the work of innovative SABC editors pursuing their own political agendas.
”If anything, the ANC NEC statement and the ANC secretary general reaffirmed the right of Cosatu and the SACP to think and to hold independent views.
”This is something that the SABC editors are slowly and voluntarily giving up.” — Sapa