The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has asked for more worker leaders to be included in the Jacob Zuma lobby’s list of candidates for the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) because it believes Zuma alone will not change ANC policies in favour of the working class
Cosatu has made radical proposals to several ANC branches, asking that they withdraw some nominations to allow for the inclusion of more left-wing candidates.
The move comes just three weeks before the ANC’s elective conference in Limpopo and as the succession race for top positions in the party intensifies.
The Zuma list appears the most likely to prevail in determining the composition of the new NEC.
All branches have concluded their nomination processes. Zuma emerged as a preferred candidate to take over as the next ANC president.
Although the names of the candidates nominated for the ANC’s top six list are similar to those proposed by Cosatu, the labour federation says it is unhappy with the candidates on the NEC list, which has 60 names.
As one of Zuma’s key supporters, Cosatu has been instrumental in influencing members of the ANC to nominate Zuma as the next party president. It sees Zuma as sympathetic to the interests of the working class.
However, Cosatu believes Zuma alone will not be able to influence crucial decisions on policy matters and the direction of the ANC. This, it said, will be possible only if some of its leaders are included in the ANC’s NEC, the party’s highest decision-making body.
“We want to see NEC members who will serve the people and address the high level of unemployment and poverty in the country,” said Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
In an interview with the Mail & Guardian this week, Vavi said although he acknowledged that the ANC was a broad church, its list of NEC members had far too many business and government people. “What we are saying is that the balance must be found even at this late stage.”
He said Cosatu has submitted its proposal to several ANC branches around the country, urging them to drop some candidates to include more worker leaders. However, he refused to provide the M&G with the names of leaders it wants in the NEC.
The Weekender disclosed some of the names given by Cosatu as possible candidates for the NEC: Nehawu general secretary Fikile Majola; South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union general secretary Randall Howard; Young Communist League chairperson David Masondo; National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa’s Irvin Jim; former deputy health minister Nosiviwe Madlala-Routledge; Cosatu deputy president S’Dumo Dlamini; Parliament’s justice committee chair Yunus Carrim; and Cosatu treasurer Alina Rantsolase.
Other names include: South African Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande; his deputy, Jeremy Cronin; ANC NEC member Ebrahim Ebrahim; SACP central committee member George Mashamba; his wife, Joyce Mashamba, who is the provincial minister of arts and culture in Limpopo; Nehawu president Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya; and Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies.
Cosatu deputy general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali believes the inclusion of more leaders from the left, who are popular with the masses, will boost the Zuma camp’s votes during the conference next month.
He appealed to ANC branches to consider dropping candidates who do not enjoy popular support and replacing them with those who do.
“If different branches vote for one candidate this will increase the chances of those individuals receiving more votes during the ANC conference,” said Ntshalintshali.