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Shilowa speaks out on Cosatu, Numsa battle

Cape Town - There is no law or decision by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) that compels affiliates to support the tripartite alliance.

So says Mbhazima Shilowa, former Cosatu general secretary and Gauteng premier.

He added that it is “disingenuous" of Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini to claim that the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa) could be expelled from the federation for breaking ties with the political alliance.  

In an exclusive interview with Fin24, the trade unionist turned businessman and politician noted:  “When I was still general secretary, we accepted the banking union Sasbo, although Sasbo did not contribute to the political fund and did not support the alliance.”  

He explained that the decision was made “because we considered union affiliation more important than insisting on political preconditions”.  

Furthermore, he pointed out that the Cosatu constitution respects the autonomy of affiliates.

Shilowa said this approach and the decisions taken were “not made by people with suits and ties”.  

They were made by rank and file workers who “always had worker interests at heart”.

The decision by Numsa to call for a series of socialist conferences, he added, is also in line with Cosatu policy.  

“It is no new resolution. It has been Cosatu policy for many years.”

However, there had always been differences among unions in the Cosatu fold.  In the past, most, if not all, considered the South African Communist Party (SACP) to be “the vanguard party of the left”.  This was no longer the case.

The ANC was also once considered to be “of the left” or inclined to socialism.  This too was no longer true.

The fact that Numsa had talked about the formation of a movement or united front that might at some future stage take part in elections, raised several questions about what might eventually emerge.  

However, if what developed was a narrowly focussed political party, this would be a mistake.

 - Fin24

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