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At the height of former Jacob Zuma’s popularity towards his ANC presidency, his most loyal support came from the tripartite alliance. The South African Communist Party (SACP) as well as the trade union federation Cosatu were eager to finally have their “Lula” moment.
Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva became a symbol for craving for change in the leftist movements. The popular Brazilian politician and trade unionist during his time as president from 2003 to 2010, instituted key social and economic reforms that saw Brazil become the world’s eighth-largest economy and more than 20-million people rise out of acute poverty.
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For Cosatu and the SACP’s leadership, Zuma presented an escape from former president Thabo Mbeki’s liberal and capitalist policies which the alliance partners condemned.
Court case after another, the SACP’s Blade Nzimande and Cosatu’s Zwelinzima Vavi stood behind Zuma, in the hope that he would usher in more socialist driven economic reforms.
Needless to say that the marriage between the alliance and the Zuma regime quickly took a turn for the worse.
According to Vavi, he realised that Zuma was a dream deferred when Zuma in his state visit in Europe assured the West that nothing would change.
“We needed a hero,” Vavi contends in retrospect, adding that they needed someone with enough guts to challenge the Mbeki presidency.
“At no stage did, now speaking from the benefit of hindsight, did president Zuma ever really stand on a platform and articulate a left leaning program of alternative to the growth, employment and redistribution (Gear), never ever,” he said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party consistently accused their ruling partner of deviating from the party’s socialist reform agenda, the RDP, in favour of Gear. Economic differences underpinned an unprecedented public row between the allies.
While Zuma presented a turnaround for the left, Zuma failed to deliver.
In this week’s podcast Vavi together with veteran journalist Paddy Harper and Mail & Guardian editor Ron Derby take a look back on what led to the breakdown in relations between the Zuma regime and the left.
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You’ll find previous episodes here.