Cosatu hails 'historic remarks'

2005-01-18 11:22

Thabang Mokopanele

Johannesburg - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday it noted "with pleasure" the comments of the African National Congress (ANC) Secretary General, Kgalema Motlanthe, and the statement of the ANC Lekgotla about the situation in Zimbabwe.

"We are heartened by the secretary general's historic remarks, coming shortly before the forthcoming elections in our neighbouring country, on the need to level the playing field, the removal of restrictions on opposition parties and the call for the police to behave in an impartial manner," the union federation said in a statement.

Cosatu, which is in a tripartite alliance with the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP), added that these comments go a long way to closing the gap between the union and the ANC that seemed to exist on the issue of Zimbabwe towards the end of last year, especially in the debate being conducted in ANC Today (on the ANC's website) following the deportation of Cosatu's fact-finding mission.

The trade union noted that it does, however, object to the comment made by Kgalema Motlanthe on SABC TV news that Cosatu's agenda was motivated by the desire to attract headlines in the media.

"This uncharacteristic comment borders on an attack on Cosatu's integrity when it addresses these important issues."

Cosatu pointed out that acting under a mandate from its National Congress, it has at all times been concerned only to defend the human rights and the economic well-being of its fellow-workers in Zimbabwe and to show solidarity with those in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).

The federation has written to the Zimbabwe minister of labour, Paul Mangwana, about the fact-finding mission that it intends to resend to Zimbabwe and is awaiting a reply.

Delegation bulldozed

"Unfortunately however, rather than respond to Cosatu, the minister has been quoted in the Daily Mirror, on January 15, as saying that 'if the Cosatu delegation bulldozed its way into the country, it was going to meet the same fate as in October last year and that they are unwanted people. Unwanted people are thrown away. If they come we will force them into the next kombi.'"

Cosatu said that Mangwana also suggested that the union should be working through a bilateral structure, which does not exist.

The general secretaries of Cosatu and the ZCTU, Zwelinzima Vavi and Wellington Chibebe, are to meet in Cape Town on January 22, to discuss how to move forward.

"In the meantime, we shall continue to organise pickets of the Zimbabwe high commission and, together with the ZCTU, are looking at other possible actions including a blockade of the border.

"We invite those who said we acted irresponsibly by sending a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe last year to tell us what we should do now, in face of the intransigence of the Zimbabwe labour minister."

- I-Net Bridge (News24)