Zuma: Cosatu’s ‘Trojan Horse’

The theory is gaining ground that Cosatu plans to use Jacob Zuma as a Trojan Horse to break into the engine room of government.

In an interview this week the federation’s Western Cape secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, confirmed that the Trojan Horse theory is doing the rounds.

‘Is it the theory that they support Zuma until he gets the power and then take over? People have been saying it for a while now.”

Ehrenreich insisted, however, that any such approach depended on Zuma being acquitted in his upcoming court case. ‘If he’s found guilty, he’s out,” he said.

He also argued that Cosatu did not need a Trojan Horse to achieve its aims. ‘There is no need for any kind of trickery. It is obvious there will be a Cabinet reshuffle, there will be new people coming in. Zuma is a smart politician, he understands what the people want.”

In ANC circles it is widely conjectured that Cosatu and the South African Communist Party have decided to push aside internal detractors of Zuma to give him the best possible chance of making it to the Union Buildings.

However, a federation leader, who asked not to be named, denied that Zuma would be used as a vehicle to drive through the left’s programme. ‘The mistake people are making is thinking that Polokwane was about Zuma. Cosatu’s reliance is not on Zuma. His election provided a space for those in the left to push for policy changes in the ANC. We are dealing with a five-year programme. The alliance summit will be the real test of what we can expect in the next five years.”

Cosatu and the SACP resolved at their respective central committee meetings last week to maximise their influence on the government and the ANC.

Both parties are intent on effecting major government policy changes despite Zuma’s reassurance that policies will not change.

The organisations have drawn up a list of major policies they want adopted by the ANC and the government. According to one SACP leader this includes the nationalisation of strategic assets in critical sectors of the economy, notably in the chemical, energy and mining industries. Companies targeted for nationalisation include Sasol and Mittal Steel.

The left is also pushing for the establishment of a state bank and mining company to fast-track development. It wants the new ANC government to introduce the basic income grant rejected by the Mbeki government.

Some of these proposals were discussed at the ANC policy conference last year, but they were not included in conference resolutions at the party’s Polokwane congress.

However, both the SACP and Cosatu say they are planning to raise them at the alliance summit scheduled for May.

Cosatu will also push for changes in monetary and fiscal policy, including interest rates and the budget surplus.

A senior Cosatu leader indicated that the left was looking for a programme ‘along the lines of the RDP [Reconstruction and Development Programme]”.

At its central committee meeting, Cosatu undertook to continue supporting Zuma, but to remain vigilant to ensure that the interests of workers are not compromised.

The issue of deployment and reconfiguration of the alliance is also to be discussed at the upcoming alliance summit.

Cosatu wants more of its leaders to sit as ex officio members of the party’s national executive committee.

Ehrenreich explained that in the run-up to Polokwane Zuma had been ‘everything to everyone” because the group that lobbied on his behalf was a ‘coalition to get Mbeki out”.

‘We accepted then that at some point there will be a contestation about whose interests should take priority and should be served.”

Ehrenreich said that Cosatu accepted Zuma’s explanation that he had been misunderstood after being quoted as saying the idea of labour market deregulation needed to be explored.

‘Look, maybe he’s not as polished and diplomatic as Mbeki was. Those few utterances of his were not that bad, maybe he just doesn’t understand the principles of Cosatu very well.”

Ehrenreich said Cosatu also accepted that Zuma would say different things to different audiences. ‘He can say what he wants, but when it comes to implementation, that is the most important.

‘It’s not a one-man show any more. We believe Cosatu should play a bigger role in all government policies regarding the poor, but we know it is a contested area.”

A provincial SACP leader said the left had known from the start that the ANC would not change in fundamental ways. For that reason, it would use all available means to influence Zuma.

‘They knew the horse is still going in the same direction; it’s about who will be given a lift on the horse. It is about exerting influence in government.”

Some in the ANC say Cosatu and the SACP know that it would be a mistake to try to take over the ANC from the top.

Said an official at Luthuli House: ‘Even in the SACP there is no consensus about hijacking the ANC for narrow objectives. There are some in the party who are still hoping that they will decide at their special conference later this year to contest power on their own.

‘The SACP see their role as safeguarding the revolution in the ANC from counter-revolutionaries who exercised control under Mbeki. They cannot control the ANC if they are not rooted in ANC branches,” the official said.