Cosatu’s Losi calls for ANC action over Mantashe congress walkout

Cosatu general secretary Zingiswa Losi has called for the ANC to act against its national chairperson, Gwede Mantashe, over his departure from the federation’s congress, in an interview published by the Sunday Times on Sunday, 18 October.

The demand follows Mantashe’s walkout on Monday, 12 October, after he objected to the speaking order for alliance partners. It is a newly reported call for action over that incident, rather than an announcement that disciplinary proceedings have begun.

In the Sunday Times interview, conducted in the days after the congress, Losi said she expected the ANC’s national working committee to consider Mantashe’s conduct when it meets on Monday, 19 October.

She questioned whether his refusal to address delegates represented the ANC’s position. The report did not announce an ANC disciplinary decision.

GroundUp’s account of the congress records that Mantashe objected to the ANC being scheduled to speak before the South African Communist Party. Speaking to reporters outside, he argued that the ANC should speak last under the alliance’s established order.

Session chair Mike Shingange said neither Mantashe nor the ANC had been expelled from the gathering: Cosatu had declined to change its programme.

The reconvened congress took place at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park from 12 to 14 October. Delegates resolved to support both the ANC and the SACP in the coming municipal elections, despite the two parties contesting separately.

Cosatu’s official leadership announcement on 14 October confirmed Losi’s election as general secretary and Shingange’s election as president. The new office-bearers were elected for a four-year term.