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Johannesburg - The ANC, SACP and Cosatu should be the first to root out corruption within the alliance, SA Communist Party deputy national chairperson Thulas Nxesi said on Tuesday.
"As the alliance, we have to be the first to expose corruption in all its forms. One of the causes of the division in labour movements is what we call business unionism. Comrades, step away from those tenders," Nxesi, who is also the Minister of Public Works, said.
There was a need for the alliance leaders to go "back to the basics", they needed to be on the ground, talking to communities and addressing pressing issues consistently and not only during election periods.
This would assist in addressing corruption at different levels of their internal structures, he said.
"Why do we have so many shop stewards? Why are we democratising the unions?" Nxesi asked the congress.
He said careerism and use of positions for personal gains were some of the dangers which posed a threat to unions.
"As you discuss in the special national congress, I hope you will be addressing the back to basics call. We cannot be an alliance only for elections. We must be an alliance even between elections."
Nxesi said those who were corrupt within the ruling party should be held to account, but that holding someone to account did not mean doing it through the media.
He also touched on the expulsion of National Union of Metalworkers of SA, saying the matter needed to be discussed and debated.
"Numsa leadership were not correct to ditch the Cosatu principle. We still need to have that debate. It must be a constructive debate."
Cosatu's unity was important to the strength of the alliance, he said.
"If this Cosatu breaks, who is going to benefit? It is going to be monopoly capital. That should be the real debate, not about individuals."
