ANC will pay at the polls for 'resisting' changes to alliance, warns Cosatu
Image: Gallo Images
Cosatu has cautioned the ANC to change its attitude on the proposed "reconfiguration" of the alliance spearheaded by the SACP, saying a failure to give in to demands would see the communists contesting for state power independently of the ANC.
Gauteng provincial secretary Dumisani Dakile, briefing the media at Cosatu House in Johannesburg on Monday, said the ANC "has no appetite" for the proposal - which the trade union and the communists find problematic.
Dakile said the Cosatu congress in 2018 resolved that should the ANC persist in "resisting" calls for the tripartite alliance to be reconfigured, the SACP should prepare itself to contest elections away from the ANC and with the backing of Cosatu.
"We can tell you that it seems like the ANC has no appetite for the reconfiguration of the alliance. It is resisting, as far as we are concerned," said Dakile.
"The congress has given us a mandate in this regard and said if the ANC refuses and fails to listen and meet the demands and expectations of Cosatu as they relate to the reconfiguration of the alliance, Cosatu in 2019 must engage with the SA Communist Party so that the SACP then must begin to contest the election.
"As far as we are concerned, we can feel that smell and can hear that sound - and our members are rumbling as we speak regarding that particular question - but we will not rush as discussions unfold. But those discussions cannot go on forever. At some point in time, these discussions must bear fruit."
Dakile said Cosatu in Gauteng was of the view that the ANC was "proceeding as if nothing has happened" and ignoring the federation at will on important decisions.
To back this up, he cited the appointment of the mayor of the troubled Emfuleni municipality, on which, he said, Cosatu was not consulted. The breaking up of Eskom into three units was another case in point.
"The question therefore that will have to be answered is: given the material evidence at our disposal, what should be our attitude, what should be our approach and what should be our posture? These things need deeper analysis and deeper thinking so that whatever options we come up with, we do not shoot ourselves in the foot," said Dakile.