Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Friday condemned the leak of internal reports to the media.
The Star reported on Friday that a confidential report had described Cosatu president Willie Madisha as power hungry, dishonest and misled by President Thabo Mbeki.
Vavi said Cosatu’s central executive committee (CEC) had resolved this week that two reports on Cosatu’s leadership will not be made public.
”The leaking of the document was therefore a blatant violation of that decision, the work of an agent provocateur who is hell-bent on damaging the federation, inflaming controversies and encouraging Cosatu’s enemies.”
”Leaking and lying to the media” was identified as a central problem and the ”worst type of ill-discipline” that the CEC wanted to stamp out, Vavi said in a statement.
Members will not be discouraged by ”this latest act of sabotage”.
According to the Star, the report accused Madisha of misleading his colleagues, dishonesty, leaking information to the press, fabricating stories about his colleagues and not attending meetings.
The crux of the problem is said to be a fierce power struggle and that Madisha feels insecure and sidelined.
The newspaper said five national office bearers of Cosatu had distanced themselves from Madisha in the report and blamed him for a leadership crisis.
The report was compiled by a commission of five affiliate union presidents after Madisha investigated Vavi for alleged misuse of the federation credit card, the Star said.
Madisha denied such a probe on Thursday.
Vavi named two reports that the CEC said on Thursday will be given to membership but not made public.
One is from a commission of union presidents that investigated Cosatu leadership problems before its ninth national congress in September.
The other is a response from the national office bearers to the commission’s report.
Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven could not confirm if both reports had been leaked.
Madisha was narrowly re-elected as Cosatu president in September, defeating Eastern Cape chairperson Zanoxolo Wayile, who was put forward by a group aligned to Vavi, the Star said. — Sapa