Knives out for Cosatu president Madisha

A band of top unionists is planning to press for Thabo Mbeki’s inclusion in the Congress of South African Trade Unions’s (Cosatu) list of favoured ANC leaders at next week’s central committee meeing. But the knives appear to be out for one of its key members, Cosatu president Willie Madisha.

The Mail & Guardian has reliably learnt that a group of senior Cosatu leaders has been secretly lobbying for Mbeki to retain his position as ANC president at the party’s congress in December.

However, there appear to be moves by the anti-Mbeki group, which includes Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, to neutralise Madisha before the federation’s CC next week.

On Thursday, the federation ­hastily convened a national executive committee meeting to deal with the controversy surrounding the unaccounted-for R500 000 donated to the SACP via leader Blade Nzimande. Madisha has been under fire after publicly confirming that he gave Nzimande the money, donated by arrested businessman Charles Modise.

The SACP imbroglio may provide Madisha’s detractors with the ammunition for the motion of no-confidence they seek. Those who want him out include Vavi, Cosatu vice-president S’dumo Dlamini, Nehawu general secretary Fikile Majola and NUM general secretary Frans Baleni.

Madisha is said to enjoy the support of the Numsa general secretary Silumko Nondwangu and the Sadtu deputy ­general secretary Don Pasquallie.

The M&G has established that the pro-Mbeki group in Cosatu has been working hard in all provinces to convince Cosatu members to support Mbeki’s third term bid.

Although Cosatu does not have the voting rights at the ANC conference, its CC list process could have a significant influence on who becomes the next ANC leader, as many of its members are also ANC members.

The majority of Cosatu members see Jacob Zuma as sympathetic to working class interests, but there are signs that his support base in the federation may be shrinking.

A senior Cosatu leader who spoke on condition of anonymity told the M&G this week that although the general perception was that Zuma would be Cosatu’s preferred candidate to succeed Mbeki, this was not a straightforward matter.

‘I can tell you the number of those who support Zuma is shrinking within Cosatu. Most unions no longer say Zuma for president. They want a third way,” said a Cosatu leader.

Last month, the M&G reported that Cosatu leaders were deeply divided over who should succeed Mbeki as the leader of the ANC, with some leaders raising serious reservations about Cosatu’s involvement in naming preferred ANC leaders.

Those opposed to the move include Cosatu’s three major affiliates, Numsa, the National Union of Mineworkers and the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union. They argued that Cosatu’s involvement in identifying ANC leaders was likely to worsen divisions within the federation and could result in leaders identified by Cosatu being shunned by the ANC.

So far, Cosatu KwaZulu-Natal remains the only provincial structure that has completed its list, which excludes Mbeki and the majority of his Cabinet ministers. Other provincial structures and various Cosatu affiliates were expected to discuss the ANC leadership issue this weekend, ahead of the CC meeting which starts in Johannesburg on Monday.

Xola Phakathi, Cosatu’s provincial secretary in Eastern Cape, said the provincial leadership would discuss the ANC leadership on Friday.

Although Phakathi said he did not know what the outcome of the meeting would be, he felt strongly that Cosatu should not involve itself in ANC matters.

‘I don’t think it should be a matter of saying we, as Cosatu, want so and so. What is needed is a leader who can rise above the current divisions within the liberation movement.”

Solly Phetoe, Cosatu’s provincial secretary in North West, said the provincial structure did not have a position on the ANC leadership issue, but his personal view was that Mbeki should not be considered for a third term.

‘For me, Zuma is the only leader who understands the role of the alliance and the poor,” said Phetoe.

Phetoe’s views were shared by Western Cape provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich.

‘I don’t have any view as to who should be in the ANC leadership, but I think it’s time for Mbeki to go.”