Amandla!: What do you make of what is happening in COSATU
now with the allegations against its General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi ?
DH: I think what we are seeing is a direct result of the
decisive victory of the Zuma-SACP faction at the December ANC Congress in
Mangaung. The SACP essentially triumphed at Mangaung, and now has more people
in the ANC's NEC, government and Cabinet than ever before. They are on the
offensive to take out any significant opposing voices in the Alliance. Julius
Malema, the ANCYL NEC, and the Limpopo NEC are already history. Now they are
coming for the biggest thorn in their sides, which has always been Vavi and the
independent trade union or worker views that he reflects.
A: Do you think there is any truth in the allegations
against Vavi ?
DH: There are currently three commissions investigating Vavi
on various allegations, including that he might be anti-ANC. I can't imagine on
what grounds they can even consider such a charge within COSATU, which is meant
to be organizationally independent of the ANC. My own feeling is that this is a
carefully planned and orchestrated attack by the SACP and its allies in COSATU
to try and finish him off once and for all, or at the very least tame him. They
are proceeding on the basis that if they throw enough mud at him in the public
arena, some will stick. It is an old tactic and one that the SACP are masters
of. Whether they succeed or not will depend on the balance of forces within
COSATU's leadership structures, and whether the forces within COSATU who
support Vavi are prepared to fight back. It is not out of the question that
this schism ends up as some kind of split in COSATU, since the SACP is
determined, one way or another, to get control over organised workers. The SACP
believes only it should speak for workers and it has always behaved as a kind
of policeman in the workers' movement, ferreting out and getting rid of
independent worker voices.
A: So the way the battle lines are being drawn has a history
in COSATU ?
Yes, this struggle has been going on in the liberation
movement for a long time – certainly from before COSATU was born. One of the
main issues in the unity talks that led to the formation of COSATU was the
division between so-called 'workerists' and 'populists'. The workerists
generally congregated around the principle of worker independence and control,
and embraced a variety of political tendencies including revolutionary
Marxists, syndicalists and even anarchists. The populists generally congregated
around the principle of loyalty to the ANC-SACP alliance, and included African
nationalists and of course Stalinist communists. Both saw organised workers as
a key constituency. Many of the workerists imagined a mass Labour Party might
emerge from the trade union movement, while the populists imagined a mass SACP.
In those days, the Party was virtually non-existent on the ground, but because
it was banned and in exile, it still carried a lot of moral authority. The
populists have been in the driver's seat and have set the pace at least since
democracy was achieved. Now the SACP is the second biggest party in government
and wields great power. Its key role of late seems to be to attack any
independent action or voice of workers as happened at Marikana. The SACP has no
interest in changing the status quo. There have been countless struggles over
the years within COSATU affiliates where the SACP has used its weight,
influence and organisation to try to crush independent worker politics,
resulting in the expulsion of many activists.
A: How is it then that COSATU is still independent?
DH: Despite its best efforts, the SACP has still not managed
to get its way in COSATU. It now has control of the leadership of several key
affiliates like the NUM, but these unions themselves are in trouble because the
gap between the rank and file and the leadership is so vast. The Party is an
organization for whom COSATU principles like 'worker control' are a complete
anathema. What need is there for worker control when the Party, the
self-proclaimed vanguard of the working class, is there to represent workers?
Everything the Party says about itself contradicts reality: it is neither
revolutionary, nor communist, nor pro-worker. When did you last hear of the
Party leading ANY struggle of workers? COSATU is still nominally independent to
the extent that its structures are able to make their own decisions in spite of
the Party line. In some unions, that is still the case as well and is therefore
carried over into some COSATU structures. If the Party had had its way already,
COSATU would be a completely sweetheart federation, doing what it was told. But
the fact that Vavi is still there shows that this is not yet the case.
A: Any thoughts on the future of COSATU?
