Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) president Willie Madisha came under fire on Monday from his own executive for the way he handled the matter of a R500 000 ”donation” to the South African Communist Party (SACP).
The executive was particularly critical of the public statements he made on the issue, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said in Kempton Park on the East Rand.
”This includes his declaration that he will no longer make himself available for leadership positions in the federation or his union,” Vavi said.
”This announcement in the middle of this controversy was unfortunate, more so because it was never raised in the central executive committee (CEC).”
Vavi was briefing reporters on resolutions reached at a special CEC meeting in Kempton Park last week.
Another special CEC session to discuss ”corrective measures” would be held in November, he said.
”We are going to take corrective measures, and not punitive measures. We are not driven by vengeance, and we hope our movement is not exposed to any divisions.”
Vavi said Madisha and other national office-bearers of Cosatu would no longer make any public comments on the disappearance of the alleged cash donation.
The committee was concerned about how this matter was being handled at the public level.
”We don’t want this issue to cause division within Cosatu. We have noted the anxiety this whole saga has caused in our ranks and in the public discourse,” Vavi said.
”The matter is divisive and is a threat to Cosatu’s internal unity and cohesion.”
He said the Cosatu president had sworn that he handed over an amount of R500 000 to SACP secretary general Blade Nzimande, which he claimed to have received as a donation from businessman Charles Modise.
Nzimande has denied receiving the donation, while an SACP task team has found no credible evidence that the donation had ever existed.
”Who is lying and who is not? One of them is lying and we don’t know who. They both could be lying,” Vavi said.
He stressed that Madisha was not being gagged from speaking to the media but that the SACP task team would get ”to the bottom of these claims and counter-claims”.
He said the police had launched an investigation that may result in charges.
”We are aware of the implications not only to the Cosatu president but also to the federation as a whole. If these allegations he has made were to be proven to have been false, or worst of all, to have formed part of the general onslaught against the left forces in general and the SACP in particular, it would cause division.”
Vavi said no conclusion had been reached by the SACP or the police as yet. — Sapa