Cosatu purge begins

Concerted efforts are being made to isolate and expel Numsa members of Cosatu's provincial executive committees, reportedly at the behest of Cosatu national office-bearers.

Provincial structures of labour federation Cosatu are becoming battlegrounds as tensions between the federation and its biggest affiliate - the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) - continue to intensify.

Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini is under renewed pressure to decide on the convening of a special national congress.

Several insiders have confirmed the existence of a plan to purge Numsa members from Cosatu provincial executive committees, and have warned that the expulsions will foment division.

A Cosatu leader in Gauteng, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the purge would backfire to the detriment of Cosatu national office bearers.

It is viewed as part of broader efforts to rid Cosatu of the trade union's influence before a decision is taken on the holding of a special national congress at which attempts will be made to dump the current crop of Cosatu leaders.

Cosatu leaders denied this.

Numsa and eight other Cosatu-affiliated unions that have called for a special congress have maintained that this was the only route to resolving the federation's long-standing problems.

The unions said they would use the special congress to elect new leaders. They have repeatedly expressed their lack of confidence in the current group, which includes Dlamini, deputy general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali and second deputy president Zingiswa Losi.

Cosatu's central executive committee has previously rejected calls for the convening of a special congress, seemingly absolving Dlamini of the responsibility of taking a decision likely to be hugely unpopular in some circles. Ntshalintshali said the committee 's decision was irrelevant.

"The request by the one-third [of Cosatu unions] is not a request to the central committee but to the president," said Ntshalintshali.

Cosatu Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich has become the first casualty of the battle at provincial level. Ehrenreich, a Numsa member, was recently kicked out of a provincial executive committee meeting, along with several other Numsa members.

Ehrenreich's counterpart in North West, Numsa member Solly Phetoe, is also said to be a target.

"The agenda is to isolate Numsa and we expect that other provinces will be tempted to do what happened in Western Cape. There are tensions but provinces should not attempt to expel comrades until there is a decision," the trade unions said.