ANC-led alliance in limbo as Cosatu congress collapses

The ANC-led alliance is disintegrating piecemeal, with the latest signpost of the collapse being the premature adjournment of the highly divided 15th Cosatu national congress that convened in Midrand, Johannesburg.

The almost 2000 delegates could not agree on who should lead the trade union federation with the last-minute suspension by Nehawu of Presidential contender Mike Shingange stealing most of the two days that have since been totally wasteful.

The financial implications will be dire for the millions of workers who fund the union with their monthly membership subscriptions that are invested in JSE-listed companies.

The initial cost of the wasteful expenditure for convening a conference that lasted two days without getting on with its business as all is estimated at above R50-million.

The decision to adjourn indefinitely was announced by Cosatu outgoing President Zingiswa Losi on Tuesday evening following two days of tensions between warring factions.

READ; Mike Shingange cleared to contest Cosatu elections amid threats to collapse congress

Shingange suspension sparks crisis

This culminates in the decision of the SACP to contest elections independently, which was taken at its Special Congress in December 2024 following the ANC national and provincial elections drubbing six months earlier.

Shingange, who became the elephant in the room of the now collapsed Cosatu congress is a known hardline communist whose allegiance with another hardliner – SACP general secretary is an open secret.

The degeneracy of the congress that never was started immediately on Monday with various unions refusing to submit their candidates list after learning of the suspension of Shingange by Nehawu.

Shingange’s champion backers for him to lead Cosatu going forward declared a dispute for the issue to be properly clarified so that their candidate can contest on a clear path.

By lunchtime on Monday, the Cosatu central executive committee (CEC) met separately to deliberate on the matter on a marathon meeting that went into the night with delegates dismissed earlier to reconvene on Tuesday morning.

Legal opinion fails to break deadlock

At the meeting, it emerged that Cosatu national office bearers (NOBs) were sitting on a legal opinion saying Shingange was cleared to contest Cosatu’s top post because his suspension by Nehawu had no bearing on Cosatu.

In a dramatic turn of events on Tuesday when this was announced at plenary, pro-Shingange affiliates dismissed and rubbished the so-called legal opinion as bogus and without legal standing.

They saw it as trickery by the opposing faction to trap Shingange into a lion’s den.

READ; Mike Shingange suspension throws Cosatu congress into turmoil

But those opposed to Shingange emerging, led by the powerful Nehawu, claimed their opponents were chickening out because they realised they did not have enough numbers to carry their presidential candidate across the finish line.

After a two-hour exchange of strong words and taking jabs at each other without agreement, another stalemate was declared calling for another CEC meeting to find a common ground.

Constitutional challenge forces adjournment

At this point, another technical point had emerged that stems directly from the Cosatu constitution, which explicitly says that after three hours of national congress has passed without adoption of credentials and the conference meeting quorum, such gathering must be adjourned for a later date, not more than 30 days later.

The CEC went to meet for another six hours, after which meeting a decision was taken and painfully announced by Losi, who is constitutionally empowered to make the announcement.

“Comrade leadership, we have reached a difficult and painful moment in the life of our federation. After extensive engagements at the central executive committee and consultation with our former leaders of this federation, we have taken a difficult decision to adjourn this 15th national congress in line with our constitutional provision clauses,” said Losi in a closed session out of bounds for media personnel.

“This decision has not been taken lightly. This is not a victory for one side or a defeat for another. There are no winners when Cosatu is divided.

“Our responsibility at this moment is bigger than any individual, than any position or any differences among ourselves,” she went on.

Losi appeals for unity

Losi admitted that the level of divisions seen in this collapsed conference were unprecedented in the history of Cosatu, adding that the break was necessary for comrades to reflect individually and collectively.

“Our responsibility is to protect Cosatu. The adjournment gives us space to lower the temperatures, to reflect honestly and to engage one another and find a way forward that protects the unity and the integrity of federation of Elijah Barayi,” she said.

“Comrades, when we return, we must return different. We must be prepared to listen to one another, disagree without treating each other as enemies. Comradeship is tested most when we disagree.

“Workers did not send us here to fight one another. Workers sent us here to fight unemployment, to fight poverty, to fight inequality and they sent us here to fight exploitation and the rising cost of living. Workers expect us to defend jobs and the dignity of workers.”

READ; NUM threatens to block Cosatu congress amid Mike Shingange suspension

Workers’ interests overshadowed

Losi said the congress should have been preoccupied with the needs and expectations of workers instead of who gets elected as what.

“None of us owns Cosatu, this federation belongs to workers. We (leaders) are merely its custodians and when history looks back upon this moment, the question will be what is it that we have done to unite ourselves. The question will not be who shouted the loudest or who defeated them, the question there is, when Cosatu faced a difficult moment, did we have courage and wisdom to put the federation above ourselves?”

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