South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday, in his weekly online newsletter ANC Today, that the upcoming Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) national congress would ”further strengthen the long-standing bonds” between the African National Congress (ANC) and Cosatu.
”As before, the ANC will await with great expectation the results of this important congress, which will surely not only help to promote the interests of the organised workers, but also contribute to the further advancement of the national democratic revolution,” he said.
He added that despite significant changes over the past two decades the strategic framework that defined the relationship between the ANC, Cosatu and other members of the alliance had not changed to any material degree.
Mbeki said: ”Ours is a strategic alliance founded on the agreement that the primary task of the current period is the implantation of the national democratic revolution.”
The Ninth Cosatu National Congress is due to take place from the September 18 to 21 at Gallagher Estate, Midrand. Earlier on Friday, Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven confirmed reports that Mbeki will not be addressing the federation’s national congress next week.
Craven said that Cosatu had invited the ANC to attend the meeting and that the ANC had decided to send former deputy president Jacob Zuma as its representative. He added that Zuma was ”very welcome” and that Mbeki would have been ”equally welcome” had he been able to attend. — I-Net Bridge