Some of your largest affiliates don’t seem too happy about this?
Which are those affiliates?
Nehawu, Samwu, Sadtu, NUM, Denosa ... Were they consulted?
They were not consulted, they were part of the decision-makers in the central executive committee. There may be individual workers, not the affiliate itself, who may raise that concern.
Because they feel the ANC has been undermining them?
Like I say in my political report to the central executive committee, the ANC’s not perfect, but there are gains we have made since 1994. People may refer to the collective bargaining that was undermined ...
An example of where the ANC hasn’t been honest with the workers?
Remove that sentence of saying the ANC hasn’t been honest. We’re in alliance with the ANC, we’re not in alliance with the government. It is our responsibility to fight the employer, which is the government led by the ANC. Remember, we took this matter to the Constitutional Court which ruled in favour of the employer. That’s why we took this matter as Cosatu to the ANC, to say to them, this thing of you allowing the government that you are leading to undermine collective bargaining does not work well with us. That’s why in January the president of the republic and the ANC made a commitment that the government is going to respect collective bargaining.
Is this a president or a party that can be trusted?
If they renege on what we’ve agreed we’d have to decide what kind of action we can take. We’ve agreed that they’re going to respect the collective agreement, but how they implement that, how they go back to put the Constitutional Court [decision] aside is a matter ...
Isn’t it because Cosatu felt it couldn’t trust his commitments that at its national congress just over a year ago it refused to endorse Ramaphosa for re-election as ANC leader?
There was no discussion at the congress to deal with the issue of leader of the ANC. There was a political discussion about challenges that workers are facing under the leadership of the ANC.
No electricity, no water, high cost of living, high interest rates, retrenchments, rampant crime. Is this what you were discussing?
We were talking about the issue of the unemployment rate, which is very high. There are a number of challenges.
But you decide to establish election war rooms to support the party under the leadership of which they’re facing these challenges?
We don’t care that we’re supporting the ANC in this election, but we are taking the department of communication & digital [technologies] to court for wanting to put the post office into business rescue and retrench 6,000 workers.
After the elections will you allow your leaders to take positions in government as ANC deployees?
Yes, those nominated by the branches of the ANC are on the list to be deployed to government at national and provincial level.
To what extent are your pro-ANC war rooms about the political ambitions of the Cosatu leadership?
There’s no way this thing is working for opportunists to be on the list for deployment to a good job.
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