Cosatu to ignore Zim ban

2004-10-25 13:31

Johannesburg - The Congress of SA Trade Unions' fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe will go ahead despite a ban by the Zimbabwean government, Cosatu president Willie Madisha said on Monday.

Madisha told reporters in Johannesburg that Cosatu had resolved not to let Zimbwean workers down and would depart from Johannesburg on Monday evening.

He said the federation did not need permission for the visit and was outraged by the government's ban.

The mission was taking place according to Cosatu's congress resolutions and was to get "an accurate picture of the situation in the country" and make a contribution to resolving some of the problems facing Zimbabwe, and its trade unions.

He said the Zimbabwean government was missing the point as the federation had also hoped to meet Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe "or some of the people in the higher echelons of government like the labour minister", although it had not yet sought permission.

"It is not our intention to go there and cause trouble," he said, adding that the intention was also to strengthen the trade union movement in Zimbabwe.

Cosatu on Thursday received a letter from the Zimbabwe Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare stating that some of the civic society organisations which Cosatu was to hold meetings with were "critical about the government of Zimbabwe... and indeed most of these are quasi-oppositional political organisations".

The letter went on to say that the mission was "predicated in the political domain" and that some of the organisations were involved in "the political discourse of Zimbabwe".

The letter listed the Crisis Coalition, the National Constitutional Assembly, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches.

- SAPA