The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), speaking ahead of the Congress of South African Trade Union’s (Cosatu) upcoming ninth national congress from September 18 to 21, says stronger leadership is needed from Cosatu for workers to confront “white power” or else “all would be doomed”.
Numsa said Cosatu should revive its 2015 plan “or face extinction”.
It said it foresaw a virtual collapse of the labour struggles if workers failed to take leadership in the many sided and consistent national democratic revolutionary struggles, together with other forces within the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and Cosatu alliance.
Numsa general secretary Silumko Nondwangu said: “What must be done to tilt the balance of forces in favour of the working class in the 2015 plan adopted by the eighth Cosatu national congress, are some of the strategic questions to be answered in the upcoming congress.”
“The complex challenges facing the working class demand a longer-term vision to build a strong trade-union movement and to assert working-class leadership. The march to our longer-term vision demands patience, resilience and bold thinking foresighted and visionary leadership,” he said.
“We need a medium-term plan because it has become clear that only deep-seated transformation of our economy and the state can bring about the aims of the national democratic revolution. Without confronting the power of white capital we are all doomed”, Nondwangu said.
“Another fundamental question that we must pose is what has substantially changed since the last congress — a principle that suggests that we must review a plan towards 2015.
“It is in this context that the congress must interrogate this period, review the implementation of the 2015 plan, and a more robust discussion on the role of the federation,” said Nondwangu. — I-Net Bridge