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Open or secret ballot? Cosatu SNC deliberates

Johannesburg - Delegates at the Cosatu special national congress were still deciding on how the credentials vote was to be constructed on Monday - open or secret ballot.

Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini has ruled that vote on credentials be done by show of hands.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wanted a secret ballot and delegates could reportedly be heard clapping and singing to that effect.

The situation inside the Cosatu special national congress has been described as chaos, after delegates spent more than three hours debating credentials.

READ: Cosatu SNC stuck on 'issue of credentials'

"It's chaos because people have come here with positions," the NUM general secretary David Sipunzi told reporters on the sidelines of the congress.

"The NUM position is that the congress should be open and any matter that needs to be debated should form part of the agenda."

He was referring to issues of which the unions who were supporting expelled Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and the National Union of Metalworkers, had raised.

The group wanted Vavi and Numsa to be reinstated. During the debate on credentials they wanted second deputy president Zingiswa Losi and new metalworkers union Limusa removed from the congress.

Sipunzi was elected NUM general secretary at the unions congress in May, taking over from Fran's Baleni who was known to be against the reinstatement of Numsa and Vavi.

Sipunzi is said to be more lenient and has spoken about Vavi and Numsa returning for the unity of the federation.

"We hope that if we can stop the shenanigans that congress can go ahead with its business.

"The NUM is not a factional organisation we believe we are here to rescue the federation," he said.

Sipunzi said that the NUM believed that the congress should open to debating all matters.

"It's unfortunate that people say what was decided by the CEC will remain the agenda and we not going to accede to that."

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