The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) admitted on Thursday that there were rifts in its leadership.
“On the matter of leadership, there are cracks and there are cracks in every union,” Cosatu president Willie Madisha told reporters at a briefing on the resolutions adopted by Cosatu’s ninth national congress.
Madisha said that these problems were all being confronted this week.
He added that these problems included personal issues between himself and general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, allegations of misuse of Cosatu resources by Vavi, and “cracks” in the six-member newly elected council.
“These problems have not just affected us [Cosatu] … but the whole country.
“I will rise with glee when there is unity in the office,” he said.
In August, Cosatu had told reporters that there was no leadership tussles within the union. “We work very closely with each other, and I can assure you that there is no war in the federation,” said Madisha at the time.
He had been quizzed by reporters after a media conference in Johannesburg about education affairs.
The media had reported that Madisha and Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi “were at war with each other and barely speaking”.
The rift had been caused by claims that Vavi had abused Cosatu resources for the benefit of a woman with whom he was apparently involved.
He allegedly used a Cosatu credit card to hire expensive cars for her, and was said to have taken her on a number of overseas trips at Cosatu’s expense.
Unemployment a concern
Meanwhile, unemployment and poor pay and working conditions are the biggest problems facing workers, the Cosatu said on Thursday.
The six-member newly elected council of Cosatu leaders was briefing the media on resolutions Cosatu adopted at its ninth national congress last month.
One of the resolutions was that a “Jobs and Poverty Campaign should be the centrepiece of Cosatu and affiliate campaigns over the three years ahead”.
General secretary Zwelinzima Vavi commented on the statistics released by Statistics SA last month saying that the number of new jobs created — 500Â 000 — was “interesting and a new figure”.
But while the increase should be celebrated, it should be noted that a “really big chunk of these [jobs] are casual, even in the formal sector”.
“Sixty percent of jobs in the construction industry are casuals,” he said.
Vavi emphasised that 15% of the jobs in the informal sector were poor quality jobs and that the workers received a maximum of R500 a month.
He said there should not just be an increase in employment numbers. More equality was need in the workplace, especially in agriculture — and this could be achieved through unionisation.
Vavi said only one in 19 farm workers was unionised. The majority were unaware of their human rights and were being exploited.
The principal concerns of all Cosatu’s members, but in particular farm workers, was casualisation, workers’ benefits and poor quality and insecure jobs, which only served to increase the number of the working poor.
Cosatu president Willie Madisha agreed that Cosatu needed to unionise farm workers.
“Daily their rights are being undermined. They are being removed from their makeshift homes and are denied an education,” he said, adding that a number of farm workers’ children were too far away to travel to schools.
Madisha said the fight needed to be taken to the streets and that one of the resolves of the Jobs and Poverty Campaign was to sustain mass strikes and protest actions until demands were met.
“People don’t know what problems workers are facing,” he said.