Trade unions need to stand together against ”unscrupulous politicians”, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Thursday.
”Only unscrupulous politicians hell-bent to use our divisions in order to use us against one another for their selfish political ends stand to benefit from our disunity,” said Vavi.
He was speaking to the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) in Boksburg, the first time that the general secretary of Cosatu has addressed a Fedusa conference.
Fedusa is the second largest trade-union federation after Cosatu, with about 500 000 members from about 20 affiliated unions.
Vavi defended Cosatu’s alliance with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at a time that former ANC heavyweight Mosiuoa Lekota is starting a breakaway party and has indicated that part of its strategy would be to create a new trade-union federation.
Vavi said one could debate the issue of the independence of a trade union when it is aligned to a political party, but in Cosatu’s case it was the best option.
”One of the issues that makes us continue to be a part of the tripartite [alliance] was that we used it to speed up our liberation … but we must continue to debate it today.”
He said the political environment determined the clout of a trade-union movement.
”It does work sometimes, when the political environment is positive. In the past 14 years, it has been very difficult to get the full potential of that particular issue,” said Vavi. — Sapa