Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, on Tuesday warned of the possibility of a split in the tripartite alliance if the ANC were to proceed with disciplinary charges.
Vavi, who is an ordinary member of the ANC as well, told the SABC that this has the potential of breaking the very basis of the alliance and destroying the whole notion of dual membership.
Has he been charged?
The issue of overturning the ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) decision against ANCYL President Julius Malema, was discussed at the ANC National Working Committee (NWC) meeting on Monday. Somehow this has allegedly mutated into charging Vavi.
Though Vavi has not as yet received formal charges from the ANC, unofficial sources from within the party have confirmed that they are on their way. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said that they have had confirmation “from sources within the ANC. We haven’t been told officially”.
What are the charges?
They purportedly relate to an incident last Thursday whereby Vavi allegedly accused President Jacob Zuma of not taking action against corrupt ministers. In particular the ministers of co-operative governance, Sicelo Shiceka, and communications, Siphiwe Nyanda, with Vavi claiming that the former had lied in his CV and the latter spent half-a-million rand on hotels in Cape Town which needed to be investigated.
How does this impact on the tripartite alliance
Subsequent to elections both Cosatu and the South African Communist Party have expressed the view that it is the alliance, rather than the ANC, which should be the centre of power.
This was rejected by the ANC.
This led to the bitterness over the ANC’s refusal to implement economic policies that the left-wing members of the alliance were expecting post-elections.
At the SACP special conference in Polokwane certain ANC delegates — primarily Malema — were heckled and booed by the crowd. This led to the ANCYL threatening war.
Cosatu, and particularly Vavi, have been calling for lifestyle audits into members of the alliance, which has not gone down well with the ANC. This alleged attack on ministers last Thursday being considered over the top.
In aggregate it represents much of the ongoing friction between the ANC and its alliance partners at present.
Charges against Vavi versus Malema
The youth league leader was finally charged with being guilty of contravening Rule 25.5.(i) of the Constitution of the African National Congress by behaving in such a way as to provoke serious divisions or a break-down of unity in the organisation. This flowing from his suggestion that former president Thabo Mbeki would never have spoken to the ANCYL in public the way that President Jacob Zuma had.
However that was merely the endgame.
The charges arose because Malema repeatedly undermined Zuma on Zimbabwe, dealings with the Afrikaner community and a number of other issues. The NDC finally being brought in after the youth league president was proving to be unstoppable in his disregard for everyone and anyone.
He was then required to :
Importantly : Should he be found guilty of contravening rule 25.5 (i) of the ANC Constitution within the next two years, his membership of the ANC shall be summarily suspended, for a period to be determined by the NDC.
In the case of Vavi, however, we are witnessing a consistency of conduct that appears to be beyond reproach. Cosatu has called for lifestyle audits with the issues being raised against the ministers concerned a normal part of that process.
Where it falls foul of the ANC is that the National Executive Committee did warn that members who attack other members in public could face severe sanction.
However the difference between Malema and Vavi — if it is the case — being charged is obvious. In the case of the former it was ongoing belligerence founded upon a belief of being untouchable versus criticism by a leader of the alliance against those whom Cosatu believed were not fulfilling the standards required for good governance.
Problem
The ANCYL as is evidenced by their conduct refuse to accept that their president has been disciplined. As a result they tackled the NWC on Monday.
The NWC, in order to either divert attention or placate them, looked at laying charges against Vavi.
The NWC was not the correct forum to consider overturning the NDC’s decision on Malema in the first place. That function rests with the appeals committee. Moreover Vavi’s conduct was not inconsistent with Cosatu policy and his membership of the ANC would need to be stretched a very long way to overlook his seniority within the alliance.
The unions affiliated to Cosatu are promising the ANC war if Vavi is charged and it would be highly reckless of the ANC to proceed against Vavi in light thereof.
Malema has been disciplined — let that be the end of it.
“This led to the bitterness over the ANC’s refusal to implement economic policies that the left-wing members of the alliance were expecting post-elections. ”
——— ——–
“We would like to take advantage of this occasion to make the point that the assumption that some among you make, together with other forces within the broad democratic movement, that the ANC is incapable of representing the most fundamental interests of the toiling masses of our country is wrong.
None of us should go around carrying the notion in our heads that we have a special responsibility to be a revolutionary watchdog over the ANC.
We must understand that none among the left forces of our country is challenged to capture the soul of the ANC, to avoid it being stolen by forces of the right.
This supposed left victory would mean that we, who are members and cadres of the ANC, will sit in helpless surrender as whatever force takes away our soul, leaving us as nothing but pliable instruments in the hands of whoever controls us.” (Part of the former)Statement of the President of the African National Congress, Thabo Mbeki, at the 10th Congress of the SACP: 2 July 1998
http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?include=10thcongress/thabospeech.html
It is a paradoxical and surpising turn of history that the ‘battle for the soul’ of the Alliance has taken such an expected turn. Most analysts saw the Polokwane ‘internal revolution’ in the movement as heralding the rise of the Left who were Zuma’s strongest supporters. Yet the opposite has happened, with the racial nationalists, crony capitalists, tribalists and securocrats driving hard to push any competition out of the movement. The Left may be considering a more radical strategy as their only option, one which may even involve decision making with the people of South Africa, rather than a closed elitist movement making decisions on their behalf. A new UDF could be a possible result?
I sincerely hope that the long awaited split between the coalition parties will come sooner than later. They do not belong together any longer.
It would create a real socialist wing in our government with such issues debated in parliament, ie in public.
The revival of normality in SA’s politics??? I hope Vavi has the balls to stand by his word!
It is a paradoxical and surpising turn of history that the ‘battle for the soul’ of the Alliance has taken such an expected turn. Most analysts saw the latest ‘internal revolution’ in the movement as heralding the rise of the Left who were Zuma’s strongest supporters. Yet the opposite has happened, with the racial nationalists, crony capitalists, tribalists and securocrats driving hard to push any competition out of the movement. The Left may be considering a more radical strategy as their only option, one which may even involve decision making with the people of South Africa, rather than a closed movement making decisions on their behalf. A new UDF could be a possible result?
Vavi recent saga vs ANC.
based on the arguemnet, there is one thing which is hard to grasp. Is Zwelinzima Vavi a newborn revolutionary or seasoned comrade or just a stanny maker of the moment.I say this primarily because the few qoutations that you make on your artitle sound as a basis for an ongoing cold war within the alliance. anyway I would beg to agree to disagree. one thing that South Africans must know from now onwards must stop placing their hopes in the hands of politicians because those that want to gain power become too critic of those that are at helm. if you want to believe what I say just read Animal farm and tell me what happened on the windmill after so much bad things were said about it while Snowball the founder, the inventor was chased out, just like as it happened to Thabo Mbeki with his economic policy. What Zuma is doing now, is he changing the economic policy? no he is not. typical politicians.
@ Siphiwo Siphiwo
– Thanks, This quote about sums up the ANC
Cosatu/SACP must not criticize the ANC when 1 million jobs are lost. This job loss happened last year, after Zuma promised us an additional 500 000 jobs.
Cosatu/SACP must remain silent as the economic drag caused by stupid ANC policies and huge corruption prevents an economic recovery in South Africa.
We must all take collective responsibility for our failed health and police services while the useless people running these carry out wide scale fraud but do nothing else. No one within the ANC is responsible for the 151 babies who died in one hospital over 4 months! “It was NATURAL!”
We must say nothing as South Africa’s life expectancy plummets from 72 years to 49 years. We must not blame the ANC’s health policies, it is a collective responsibility thing!
It reminds me of a quote often used in these blogs.
“The ANC evil will flourish for as long as good men do nothing”
I have many differences with Vavi but I salute his outspoken criticism. Someone who has the guts to stand up against evil deserves my respect!
I refuse to take collective responsibility for the ANC’s disgusting lack of morality. It seem there are others, like Vavi who have the same view!
Cde Zwelinzima, why not allow yourself to appear before a hearing and clear your name? You do not have to evade a hearing like Cde Zuma did, do you?
Are you scared that the crony-packing of bodies that you helped engineer will work against you? What goes around comes around.
The ANC sold its soul as soon as it embarked upon self serving tenderpreneurship and corruption to the cost of millions of Rands which it should have spent in the betterment of conditions of those whom it pledged to help.
@ Siphiwo
Thanks for this incoherent blast from the past!
It echoed in my mind and I said to myself “this is awfully familiar!”
And then I saw whose verbiage it was and I grinned to myself and realised why even Zuma is better than what we had to endure…
and these are the buffoons who are running our country. So busy, fighting over the spoils and power that they forget to actually fulfil the mandate for which they were elected.
I am of the opinion that should the charge go ahead, and should Cosatu then impliment their threat and split, champagne corks should be popped all across SA, as this will mean the greatest moment in post-apartheid history.
Suddenly the country cant be held to ransom by trade unions anymore – trade unions with one foot in government who will do anything to placate their electorate.
Suddenly the “only rooster in the henhouse” attitude of the ANC will be severely taken down a few notches.
the effective one-party-state we are living under will come to an end, and that, my friends, can only be a good thing.
Make no mistake the call to discipline Vavi emanates from the ANCYL allied with (no doubt) the other ministers whom Vavi is quite correctly calling to account.
Who are these ANCYL whippersnappers anyway? The voters of South Africa voted for the ANC. They did NOT vote for the ANCYL so it is absolutely ridiculous that the President and hierarchy within the ANC are kowtowing to the youth league.
I think we need to remind President Zuma that ultimately his power base is the voters of South Africa. NOT Julius Malema and the ‘bare bottoms’ brigade. I think he will properly reflect the wishes of the voters if he asserts his authority over the youth league in no uncertain manner.Key governance issues should be more reflective of entities with well established democratic credentials (such as Cosatu) than of the silly young hotheads in the ANCYL.
Vavi has devoted more than a decade to attacking the ANC in order to promote his (entirely fake) image as a left-winger. Under Mbeki he was allowed to get away with this.
The problem is that conditions have changed, because the Zuma people are much more repressive. Whatever the real reason for the attack on Malema, the fact is that Vavi’s attacks on ANC leadership have been far more damaging and sustained (and more hypocritical) than Malema’s. Hence, not to charge Vavi exposes the double standard within the ANC — that provided you command the support of the white ruling class (which Vavi does, no doubt because his leadership has so severely damaged COSATU) you can say whatever you like.
If Vavi is disciplined as a member of the ANC, it will be in terms of its constitution. What COSATU and the SACP (and you, Mr. Trapido) are saying is that the ANC’s constitution ought not to apply to people whom the white ruling class approves of.
This is a bit discreditable for a lawyer to be supporting, don’t you think?
Increasingly Thabo Mbeki and how he handled the alliance becomes relevent and in hindsight,brilliant.
@John – I agree with you on all point especially the last one. The fact that I am an SA citizen AND taxpayer compels me to subject myself to the constitution but the constitution is not synonymous with the ANC. On the contrary. I also don’t like trade unions but they have a right to exist but they do not pose quite the same evil the ANC does. What is happening in the public service due to their persistent mismanagement is beginning to look like a crime against humanity. And for that the ANC must be held accountable.
@The Creator. I think you would find that the only reason that Vavi has support among the so called white ruling class would be that if he were to split from the ANC and stand alone and without support from the ANC, the ANC then would not be able to count on their support in future elections. Compared to Zuma, Vavi is an intellectual who has played a far more astute game than Zuma with all his personal attached debris. As part of the so called ruling white elite I am not particularly keen on Socialism either as it has failed elsewhere in the world and I see no reason to believe that it would be a greater success here. In terms of voting in next general election I believe the socalled elite would most likely throw it’s vote behind the Opposition in preference to handing over to Socialism. The reason the ANC is in power is because of the tripartite alliance. Split that at election time and you will split the vote down the middle. Socialism versus Nationalism. It may remove some of the small parties with one seat or two but we would then have three stronger parties. Even in Socialist countries there is a divide between the haves and the have nots. What the people – All the people want is good governance and less cronyism and corruption. I believe Vavi is more in touch with the people than Zuma.
The most fascinating quote is from Siphiwo squared above: “We must understand that none among the left forces of our country is challenged to capture the soul of the ANC, to avoid it being stolen by forces of the right.” As Mao Zedong, that most insightful communist, said in 1978, when left wingers say one thing, to understand them, invert the words completely and you will understand what they really mean. A good translation of this turgid prose would then be: “We must not understand (please do not be aware) that the left forces of our country certainly are challenged to capture the soul of the ANC, as if they don’t it very likely will be stolen by forces of the right. (right meaning ethnic nationalists within the broad movement, not a few irrelevant middle of the road social democratic liberals aka …white…people…ugh” ). I think this is an accurate translation, and will provide the subtext and truth of the quote that Siphiwo provided. It also neatly encapsulates the dynamics of the current power struggle.
This is after having read some responses on the Zwelinzima Vavi saga vs ANC. you see one thing that at all time perplexes me, is the truth, have you ever find a person in politics whos hands are clean. The answer is no one.I say this because JZ was defended by the very same people on his corruption trial but today they want to look as if they were foxed by having supported JZ up to the end in polokwane conference. Vavi, its not say he is the South African savior he is just as like any politician who is seeking for popularity. one may ask a question what is the clear agenda of SACP becase for cosatu its clear its just a federation for unoins which is not arlaming to see it playing a political role some times.a split can only happen if these two left wing forces come together but that can not be an easy thing to do.the history of communism proved to be a failure in the hands of people who had a vision about it not people who don’t live it but who just do vice versa of what they wish to see in the country.
So agree with John. Don’t care about Vavi’s personal aims. I just believe that the ANC is best left to destroy itself from within and it looks to me as though this is happening. Such a pity COPE could not get its act together…now is the time when a credible alternative is necessary. Not sure COSATU could provide it, but it is certainly asking the right questions and even giving some really good reasoning along the way. The ANC is just too cumbersome to cope. It doesn’t have the makings of an astute political party. Our Vice President is corrent when he says the ANC has the right to deploy cadres, but surely it should look a bit further to see whether any are qualified to do the jobs? I’m left feeling there is no honest individual in the entire party. And make no bones about it, there are black ANC members who feel the same.
This situation has arisen out of the hysterical, subjective, dubious support for and blind, misplaced loyalty to JZ leading up to Polokwane – it has arisen out of the mob mentality that prevailed at the time with few amongst the tripartite alliance applying one ounce of intelligence or critical thinking to why they were so veracious in their support of JZ who clearly should have stood trial. No good was ever going to come of that situation because the motivation of most roll players was suspect at best and blatantly self serving and even corrupt at worst – integrity lacked – moral fibre and ethics were and still are almost non-existent amongst the leadership of the alliance..Currently there are a few winners – not too many – but Vavi may be one who appears to be genuinely interested in the poor and has remained consistent in his attempt to bring an end to corruption – he displays courage and determination even in the face of serious criticism and threats from his own comrades and “close friends”. Even though Malema has gone become more discreet in public, don’t underestimate his massive influence behind the scenes, particularly on the main man, JZ! Very concerning – even frightening!
The communists versus the kleptocrats. I’ll have to go with the commies.
@Gail: “I am not particularly keen on Socialism either as it has failed elsewhere in the world”…I do not know where you get that from?? Old National Party stuff???
Socialism is alive and well in most European countries in many coalitions. It does present the voice of the workers (and often the poor).
Socialism or communism by itself leads -as any other political flavour- leads to dictatorship..and that -indeed- has failed the world over.
I personally applaud the idea that the Tripartite alliance could soon be split – an uneasy partnership has been on the rocks for a long time, and is due for a shake up. It can only be good for SA politics to have such a huge majority made smaller, as the ANC would then have to be more accountable for their actions.
How ridiculous has our government got when anyone who criticises the corruption and goings on is threatened with disciplinary action. It would be laughable if it wasn’t true.
I think half the reason they allow Malema to have such a long leash is that he detracts from their own failings, and divides the nation instead of turning the eyes of the nation on their incapabilities. If everyone is focussed on the nonsense that Malema spurts out, then who’s left to point fingers at a government robbing the country blind with corruption and inaction?
Never thought I’d hear myself say this, but Viva Vavi! Go get ‘em, Tiger!
Benzol – well said. Some of the most successful nations economically speaking are socialist – Sweden, Denmark, Norway. As you say – most European countries have a socialist flavour – if not outright socialist, then certainly leaning in that direction.
Every negative action that is transpiring in South African politics is a direct result of the “Alliance”. COSATU as the official tade union should be vehemently fighting for workers rights and civil society in RSA. This cannot be achieved by “jumping into bed” with the ANC. COSATU and the Communist party need to stand seperate from which ever government is appointed and should be the moral and ethical guide to secure good governance. The split is needed and we need it now. It’s as simple as that.