Trade union federation Cosatu says it is encouraged by the ANC’s resolve to deal with those who refused to step aside from their positions despite having corruption and other criminal charges against them.
This comes as the ANC is currently embroiled in a court battle with its beleaguered secretary-general Ace Magashule, who dragged the party to court in a bid to reverse his suspension, which was imposed after he refused to step aside along with other criminally implicated leaders.
Following its central executive committee meeting this week, Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said the federation commended the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) for tackling those who were tainted.
“The federation has been consistent in its call for a more assertive ANC NEC in dealing with political ill-discipline and corruption in the organisation and in the government. This is what the majority of workers and members want,” Ntshalintshali said.
Ntshalintshali said the federation will continue to help defend the governing party from those who were prepared to weaken and divide it to save themselves, adding that the ANC was powerful “despite its obvious weaknesses”.
“The principal task of the working class remains to recapture the ANC as a progressive and radical liberation movement. We have bottomless contempt for corruption and factionalism, and we remain a principled ally of the ANC,” he said.
Cosatu, however, lamented that it was, together with the SACP, not being taken seriously by some within the party as there was refusal to make the ANC-led alliance the “political centre” where implementation of agreed policies had to be implemented.
Meanwhile, Cosatu warned the ANC against the deployment of questionable characters into municipal positions ahead of the upcoming local government elections.
Ntshalintshali said the party had to identify candidates who had the capacity for the positions and who enjoyed the confidence of the communities they were to serve.
“This goes together with the ANC taking its work and mandate seriously, and addressing the needs of communities and not taking for granted the frustrations and demands of the people,” he said.
This comes as the ANC and other political parties are hard at work preparing their election machinery ahead of the crucial municipal elections, which in 2016 saw the ANC being unceremoniously dislodged from two of Gauteng’s three crucial metros – Johannesburg and Tshwane.
Political parties are currently using the current by-elections across the country to test waters on how they might perform during the polls, which are scheduled for October 27.
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