In the cause of political stability, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) resisted the temptation last week to call for President Thabo Mbeki to step down. But it warned that it might raise the question again if the government did not work more closely with the tripartite alliance.
At a media conference in Johannesburg after the federation’s central executive committee (CEC) meeting, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the federation had lost confidence in Mbeki’s leadership.
However, the CEC had decided that axing him at this stage could lead to instability in South Africa.
His remarks were at variance with the ANC’s line. Party secretary general Gwede Mantashe told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday that the government as a whole should be held accountable, not just the president.
Said Mantashe: “If people are criticising Mbeki, they are criticising the ANC. We are doing our own assessment of the performance of government as a whole, not just of the individual. We are doing this to see where we can improve.”
He said the ANC would give guidance to Mbeki’s Cabinet, but would not recall him or give him “a script to read from”.
“We are going to the elections and we will do nothing to destabilise the country now,” Mantashe said.
Newly elected Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini told the M&G that it “remains tempting” to call for Mbeki’s head. “But we thought: Is South Africa ready for that? Are there not other formations that are waiting to occupy that space and take the revolution elsewhere?”
He said Cosatu would wait until a consultation had taken place between the government, the ANC, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party next month before considering the question of Mbeki’s continued tenure.
The consultation is intended as a follow-up to the recent alliance summit, where a range of demands were made on government.
Said Dlamini: “At the meeting government will be told what the alliance has decided and what we expect from government leadership. If [government leaders] then do not want to implement [our demands] it will be tempting to make the call.”
Dlamini also accused Mbeki’s government of “looting state resources”, but declined to give details. “We are weighing the damage that is happening now. There is looting in government on various levels.”
At the recent summit, the alliance partners asked for a moratorium on outsourcing and a review of current outsourced public-sector utilities.
The intention is to prevent government leaders who know they will not be returning to the new administration from feathering their nests before they leave office.
After its central committee meeting last week, the SACP called on Mbeki to step down.
Mantashe, however, insisted that criticism of Mbeki should be borne by the ANC as a whole. “The ANC does not have the luxury of shouting from rooftops like Cosatu does, we have to deal with the problems.”
The criticism of Mbeki is mostly retrospective, he believes. “Our analysis is that most of it is about what he said about Aids and Zimbabwe. His pronouncement on the xenophobic attacks may have been late, but we are now focused on dealing with the crisis of the displaced.”