ANC leaders have spoken out publicly for the first time in support of the party’s decision to charge Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi over his public criticism of President Jacob Zuma for failing to act on corruption allegations against his ministers.
In interviews this week two ANC national executive committee (NEC) members, Billy Masetlha and Sicelo Shiceka, the cooperative governance minister, lambasted Vavi for contravening agreed alliance rules.
It was widely reported this week that the party’s national working committee (NWC) had decided to take disciplinary measures against Vavi, but party leaders refused to confirm the decision publicly.
Shiceka is one of the ministers singled out by Vavi at a media briefing last week. He alluded to a recent Mail & Guardian report that Shiceka embellished his CV and used his department’s funds for personal purposes.
At the briefing Vavi also accused Zuma of failing to act on Siphiwe Nyanda, the communications minister, whom the M&G reported had spent R500Â 000 on accommodation at luxury hotels in Cape Town while his government house was being renovated.
Masetlha has long been at war with the ANC’s left-wing partners, accusing them of trying to hijack the ANC.
Vavi’s public remarks have angered many in the ANC, prompting the working committee to discuss laying charges against him for contravening rules set by alliance leaders that they should not attack one another publicly.
But Cosatu affiliates have warned that the decision to charge Vavi could break the tripartite alliance.
While Cosatu claims the decision to charge Vavi was taken by a minority, the M&G understands that most working committee members Âsupported the idea.
Zuma was absent from Monday’s meeting and none of the ANC’s other top leaders, including party deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, secretary general Gwede Mantashe and his deputy, Thandi Modise, chairperson Baleka Mbethe and treasurer Mathews Phosa, opposed the proposal.
But Mantashe is believed to have advised the working committee members not to compare Vavi’s case with that of the ANC Youth League president, Julius Malema.
In turn, working committee members argued that the charges were a legal matter and that Malema’s case had created a precedent.
Mantashe, said ANC insiders, volunteered personally to write the letter to Vavi informing him of the party’s intention to charge him.
But Mantashe, when asked, denied it: “I did not say that and was not asked to write the letter to Vavi.
“Go back to your sources to get sufficient information. I am not going to ask you who that source is.”
Noluthando Mayende Sibiya, the minister of women, children and people with disabilities, who is regarded as a staunch Vavi supporter, also did not object to the suggestion when Mbete, who chaired the meeting, asked if there was anyone who was against laying charges against the Cosatu boss.
The only objection, said ANC insiders who attended the meeting, was to a suggestion that Jeremy Cronin, the deputy transport minister and South African Communist Party deputy general secretary, should be charged for blaming the ANC’s defeat in two by-elections in the Western Cape last week on racist statements by ANC Youth League leaders.
Although Cosatu insists that charging Vavi would threaten the unity of the alliance, Masetlha and Shiceka believe he should face the music, as Malema did.
Masetlha described Vavi’s remarks as irresponsible and unfortunate.
“Vavi accused President Zuma of some serious [stuff] when there is no evidence. He has gone too far.
“Cosatu leaders now say the charge against Vavi is an agenda driven by counter-revolutionaries within the ANC. If there are [counter-revolutionaries] within the ANC, name them. Cosatu is just looking for an unnecessary fight.
“This alliance was built with the blood of our people,” said Masetlha.
He said it was strange that Vavi had chosen to attack Zuma in public while he had unlimited access to all the ANC leaders.
“He can pick up the phone any time and say to Zuma, ‘I want to see you’. The president would no doubt give him the audience.
“It is in our best interests that if I disagree, I should engage internally.
‘We know people have ambitions to be in the leadership of the ANC, but there are established protocols within the alliance. In our meetings with alliance partners, we agreed we would not attack one another in public.
“This chap has crossed the line. I do not see any difference between this case and that of Julius Malema.
“The alliance cannot be held to ransom by his reckless behaviour,” said Masetlha.
He described Vavi’s claim that he was informed by working committee sources about the decision to charge him as “criminal”.
“This thing of him using sources in the ANC is dangerous to the revolution and the alliance,” he said.
Shiceka said, although he was not at the meeting, he believed it would have been proper for Vavi to raise his concerns with the ANC, rather than going public with them.
“He did not use internal processes. It was agreed we should not allow public spats,” said Shiceka.
He questioned why Vavi chose to criticise ministers in public while no ANC leader had commented on allegations that Vavi misused Cosatu’s credit card and the fact that his wife Noluthando received payment from a company that provided financial services to Cosatu members.
Other ANC leaders said a failure to charge Vavi would expose the ANC and Zuma to accusations of selective justice.
But one ANC NEC member remarked: “It looks like Mantashe and Zuma are shaken by Cosatu’s threat to break from the alliance. Zuma believes that Vavi can’t be charged because what he said was in a Cosatu statement.
“But the statement itself makes no mention of Shiceka and Nyanda — that came from Vavi himself,” said the insider.
Some ANC leaders argue that it was not enough for Vavi to claim he made the statements on Cosatu’s behalf.
The M&G was told that the charges against Vavi would be discussed again in Zuma’s presence at an national working committee meeting in Limpopo next week.
Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini said it would be almost impossible for the ANC to charge Vavi based on the comments he made on behalf of Cosatu.
“The thought to charge [Vavi] would not be implementable.
“I want them [the ANC] to come here and [I] will ask them how do you do this? It’s unheard of.
“This is designed to cause chaos within the alliance. We know the decision is supported by a small group within the ANC national executive committee, but these people are in the majority within the NWC,” said Dlamini.
He said if Cosatu did not Âpronounce on corruption matters in the ANC, society would lose confidence in the ruling party.
Apologise or I’ll see you in court
Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda told Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on Thursday to apologise to him or face legal action, writes Mandy Rossouw.
A source close to Nyanda said that Nyanda had instructed his lawyers to send a letter of demand to Vavi, saying the union boss “published or caused to publish certain statements which are injurious to [Nyanda’s] good name and reputation”.
The letter was sent to Cosatu’s head office in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, on Thursday morning. It demanded an “unqualified retraction of any reference or Âinsinuation that [Nyanda] is a corrupt individual or corrupt minister”, the source said.
At a media briefing last week Vavi accused President Jacob Zuma of not taking action against corrupt ministers, referring to Nyanda and Cooperative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka.
Vavi said the conduct of Nyanda, who spent half a million rands on luxury hotels in Cape Town while his official residence was being renovated, should be probed.
“The publication of these statements constitutes a gross violation of Nyanda’s right to his good name and reputation,” the source said.
Nyanda insists that Vavi must issue an unqualified apology within seven days. If he fails to do so by June 10 2010, the unionist will be sued for defamation.
A known critic of Vavi, Nyanda is a member of the ANC’s national working committee, which has decided to discipline Vavi for statements he made about corruption in the ANC. Vavi said last week that the ANC creates the impression that corruption in its leadership ranks is not taken seriously.
Vavi declined to comment.