* General secretary of COSATU says labour group must renew
itself
* Despite acrimony, COSATU dependent on ANC rule
* S.Africa labour market seen weakened by COSATU-friendly
laws
By Jon Herskovitz
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 18 (Reuters) – A top South African labour
leader urged a fresh start for the country’s biggest unions on
Tuesday, saying change was needed in the wake of recent violence
and the challenge posed by the rise of the militant AMCU union.
Forty-five miners died in clashes between competing unions
last month, including 34 miners shot dead by police in the
deadliest security incident since the end of apartheid.
“We need a shift in our mindset to recognise that the labour
movement needs to renew itself and re-establish its very purpose
of existence,” Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), told the
group’s national congress.
“If we lose touch with our members’ concerns, there is the
danger of finding ourselves …outflanked by the new independent
unions which are emerging as a result of dissatisfaction from
the shop floor.”
A member of the country’s African National Congress-led
(ANC) ruling alliance, COSATU has used thuggish behaviour in
labour disputes in the past but now finds itself the target of
intimidation from rivals.
Continued…
