Cosatu affiliates asked to bankroll more than R5m congress re-run

The financial cost of Cosatu’s factional power play for leadership posts has come back to bite the trade union federation, sending it cap in hand to its affiliates to raise at least R5 million for a re-run of the national elective congress tomorrow or face a constitutional crisis.

Cosatu national office bearers revealed in a letter to the affiliates on Wednesday that the federation was facing “serious financial difficulties”, appealing for nearly R500,000 in contributions for the Emperor’s Palace conference centre in Ekurhuleni from all 11 affiliates.

Earlier efforts to secure Nasrec in Johannesburg or Birchwood in Boksburg failed after the central executive committee clashed over capacity and costs of the venues.

The fundraising intervention comes as the federation races to reconvene the congress after the collapse of its first attempt because it did not meet a quorum, driven by factional contestation for leadership positions.

The Cosatu constitution indicates that if quorum is not met within three hours, the meeting should dissolve and reconvene within 30 days. If the rescheduled re-run within 30 days fails to sit or collapses again, the constitution protects the federation from endless delays by removing the quorum roadblock.

If the re-run fails to get off the ground, not because of a boycott but due to an administrative or logistical failure, such as the absence of funds or a court interdict, the central executive committee steps in to run the federation by decree. The leadership remains in power as caretaker administrators until a Special National Congress can be structurally organised at a later date.

At a briefing after the collapse of the first attempt at this year’s congress, Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi said the congress would be reconvened despite the challenges.

After spending R12m at the previous congress, she said they would seek cheaper venues to host it, even if it meant using a church or hospital hall, to accommodate the nearly 2,000 expected delegates.

The congress also faced a hurdle on Friday as the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu), represented by general secretary Dumisani Magagula, attempted to interdict the scheduled re-run tomorrow.

He said the Veterans League of the ANC needed to mediate the in-house conflicts that required resolution.

The high court dismissed the case, citing a lack of urgency.

The application also raised concerns based on the letter signed by Cosatu general secretary Solly Phetoe, with Samwu highlighting that the federation was as financially strained as its affiliates.

“The Federation is currently facing serious financial difficulties that constrain its ability to meet the additional costs of reconvening Congress. Although the adjourned Congress received funding and support, for which we remain sincerely grateful, the available resources are insufficient to finance the reconvened gathering,” reads the letter in part. The federation acknowledged the financial pressure on its affiliates but emphasised the necessity of conducting congress to sustain itself.

Phetoe highlights that there would be no need for additional expenditure on regalia or congress documentation but that it would need to pay the institution overseeing the election of its new leadership, cover security services and arrange new access tags to verify delegates’ credentials and control entry. The federation requested that each union contribute R472,727.72 to meet the R5.2m venue bill.

“The request for equal contributions reflects the collective responsibility of all affiliates to enable congress to complete its work, elect leadership and adopt the organisational and policy positions that will guide our efforts to advance united workers interests.

“Given the limited time before Congress reconvenes, affiliates are requested to urgently confirm their contributions and anticipated payment dates with the office of the general secretary and the finance department,” reads the letter.

Magagula said the union had asked Cosatu to halt the congress and not commit further funds until the date and arrangements had been determined. However, according to the affidavit, Cosatu subsequently informed the union that it would not postpone the congress.

The union argued that proceeding under the circumstances would place further pressure on affiliates that had spent money preparing for last month’s gathering.

“I would also add that Samwu has already incurred significant expenditure in the region of R3 million in preparing for and attending the September congress and to convene a further congress within such a short period necessarily placed additional financial pressure on the applicant,” Magagula said. “In fact, many of the other affiliates are also operating under significant financial constraints.”