Cosatu and SACP bang heads over succession

Cosatu and SA Communist Party structures are deeply divided over the future of their secretaries-general, Zwelinzima Vavi and Blade Nzimande.

While the feud continues between the Cosatu-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers and National Union of Metalworkers of SA over who should succeed Vavi if he steps down next year, the SACP has been rocked by a succession battle of its own.

The SACP's Mbuyiselo Ngwenda region, which includes Port Elizabeth, recently named Vavi as its preferred candidate to replace Nzimande as secretary-general at next July's SACP conference.

Eastern Cape SACP secretary Xolile Nqata said the pronouncement by the Mbuyiselo Ngwenda district was "unacceptable", as it amounted to a "vote of no confidence" in Nzi-mande when he had not even finished his term.

"We find this unfortunate. We have shown confidence in (Nzi-mande), and any succession discussion is out of order. Some of these utterances bring about tensions," he said.

SACP insiders say there is growing unhappiness in the party over Nzimande's leadership style, with some accusing him of "protecting" those loyal to him.

But SACP leaders in various provinces have rallied behind their secretary-general and accuse those who want a Vavi takeover of fuelling tensions.

This battle is playing itself out at various levels, notably in KwaZulu-Natal and North West.

A group of disgruntled SACP members are expected to stage a sit-in at the party offices in Durban tomorrow. They will be demanding that Nzimande publicly release the results of an internal investigation into claims that provincial secretary Themba Mthembu sold out one of his comrades to the apartheid government in the 1980s.

But Mthembu said he was being attacked as part of a bigger campaign to have Nzimande removed.

"There has been campaigning against the party. It is a power struggle, since we are going to congress and it's got to do with the same thing (Vavi's nomination). There is a contestation battle brewing," he said.

In North West, tensions between the SACP and Cosatu have reached boiling point, with leaders of the organisations not even speaking to each other.

Cosatu's Schweizer-Reneke region slammed SACP provincial secretary Madoda Sambatha for questioning Vavi's silence following his nomination for the SACP post. It said Sambatha's statement undermined Vavi and the federation's leadership.

But Sambatha hit back, saying the relationship between the SACP and Cosatu in North West had never been cosy.

At national level, the fight between the NUM and Numsa continued to dominate headlines this week, with Cosatu leaders holding a meeting in a bid to reconcile the two sides.

While Numsa is said to lead the campaign to have Vavi succeeded by its secretary, Irvin Jim, the NUM believes that Vavi should be retained or replaced by its own leader, Frans Baleni.

Vavi said: "The matter of supposed tensions is a subject of internal discussion within the federation. Numsa respects the call made by the leaders of Cosatu that the matter be handled internally."