Is Numsa fighting Cosatu or ANC?

AT least we now have it on record that most economic analysts and political parties, in particular the ANC, have described the expulsion of Numsa from Cosatu as ‘tragic and disappointing.’

While economists believe this expulsion is unlikely to create an immediate economic impact, politically it may cost the ruling party big time in the long run.

The stand-off between the Numsa and Cosatu leadership has been simmering for a long time before coming to a head in dramatic fashion last weekend when 33 Cosatu Central Executive Committee delegates against 24 voted Numsa out.

This had an immediate impact, with seven Cosatu affiliated unions backing Numsa, vowing ‘…there will be no Cosatu without Numsa. There will be no unity without each other.’

Could this be true?

Only time will tell.

Perhaps such utterances are influenced by the reality that Numsa is the biggest affiliate within Cosatu, boasting a membership of more than 300 000.

By the look of things, Numsa is not fighting Cosatu here, but rather the ANC.

At its congress last year, Numsa resolved not to campaign for and support the ANC financially in the national general elections in May this year.

They accused the ANC of shifting from the Freedom Charter and being biased against the working class and the poor.

Accusations

They also announced they would be forming a socialist party to contest the 2016 local government elections.

They lashed out at the National Development Plan (NDP), describing it as a DA blueprint, yet the NDP has been hailed by various stakeholders, including business and other political parties.

In defending their decision not to support the ANC, the metal workers union said, ‘There is no clause in our constitution that compels members to vote for the ANC’.

This coming from an affiliate of Cosatu, which is in the tripartite alliance with the ANC.

Cosatu and all its affiliates, including Numsa, have been voting for the ANC since the first democratic elections in 1994.

ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe, who addressed the media on Monday, advised Cosatu to be sensitive to the political implications of the case facing its General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.

Worried about the ongoing tension within Cosatu, the ANC attempted to intervene by sending a task team led by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to broker some settlement, but Cosatu’s Executive Committee rejected them and shied away from embracing unity.

When one door closes, though, another one opens. The brouhaha may just prove to be a blessing in disguise for new kids on the block Mawusa (Metal and Allied Workers Union of SA), a Numsa breakaway group led by Zululander Cedric Gina.

Gina resigned as President of Numsa late last year after ‘realising’ that Numsa had deviated from what they stood for.

If Cosatu’s decision stands, one should not be surprised to see Mawusa moving in to fill the void.