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INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS<\/p>\n
Gwede Mantashe and Zwelinzima Vavi
\nFile photo: Bongiwe Mchunu<\/p>\n
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Related Stories<\/p>\n
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Johannesburg – ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe has become the first target of an \u201cinternal revolt\u201d threatened by Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi\u2019s allies last week over his suspension. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, the Food and Allied Workers Union slammed Mantashe for his \u201cunfortunate, reckless and destructive\u201d statements about the embattled union boss. <\/p>\n
The union, which met to discuss Vavi\u2019s suspension from Cosatu, called on Mantashe to refrain from \u201cfurther poisoning the already contaminated situation with his ill-informed statements\u201d. <\/p>\n
The union\u2019s angry outburst followed Mantashe\u2019s harsh criticism of Vavi at the weekend. <\/p>\n
Mantashe made his disparaging remarks after Vavi unveiled his fight-back strategy at a media briefing on Friday. <\/p>\n
Days after being suspended and charged for allegedly bringing Cosatu into disrepute in connection with a sex scandal, Vavi released an \u201cintelligence\u201d report he claimed was \u201cproof\u201d that his suspension was politically motivated. <\/p>\n
He claimed the dossier was also \u201cevidence\u201d that state resources were being used to fight party political or factional battles. <\/p>\n
Vavi accused his rival, Cosatu president S\u2019dumo Dlamini, of having circulated the highly questionable document before last week\u2019s crucial central executive committee meeting in an attempt to influence committee members to dump him. <\/p>\n
Mantashe subsequently told The Sunday Independent that Vavi should not drag the ANC into the factional battles tearing the labour federation apart. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality of the matter is that they are trying to draw us into this matter. We don\u2019t want to be drawn into that mud,\u201d Mantashe said, adding the federation\u2019s leaders had to be \u201cloyal\u201d to Cosatu\u2019s decisions and deal with them internally. <\/p>\n
Another Sunday newspaper also quoted him as slamming Vavi\u2019s \u201cill-discipline\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is unprecedented. It is the worst case of organisational ill-discipline. If the ANC takes me through a disciplinary process, the worst thing I can ever do is to go out and attack the ANC.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Food and Allied Workers Union\u2019s deputy general secretary, Moleko Phakedi, said Mantashe had jumped on the anti-Vavi bandwagon. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t understand why Comrade Gwede chose to condemn Zwelinzima Vavi, without first familiarising himself with the disputed central executive committee, as if he is choosing a side of those who claim the committee was constitutional and the hallucinated \u2018decision\u2019 to suspend Vavi valid,\u201d said Phakedi. <\/p>\n
Phakedi reiterated the National Union of Metalworkers of SA\u2019s claim that the committee meeting was unconstitutional because of \u201cquestionable credentials and the absence of written reports\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe so-called decision, on \u2018suspending\u2019 Vavi, was decreed instead of subjecting the two motions to a voting process in terms of the constitution. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe union wishes to clarify that Zwelinzima Vavi has full support, in clarifying and putting the record straight, including on his right to approach the courts of law,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Phakedi\u2019s strong reaction came after The Mercury reported last Friday that Vavi\u2019s supporters were threatening an \u201cinternal revolt\u201d similar to the one by President Jacob Zuma at the ANC\u2019s 2005 national general council. <\/p>\n
At the council, a revolt by ordinary ANC delegates had forced the Thabo Mbeki-led ANC to reinstate Zuma to his ANC leadership positions. <\/p>\n
In what seems to be part of the revolt, unions supporting Vavi are also expected to hold special meetings to craft the way forward this week. <\/p>\n
Political Bureau<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS Gwede Mantashe and Zwelinzima Vavi File photo: Bongiwe Mchunu Related Stories Spooks out to get me – Vavi State agencies out to get us: Numsa Vavi to challenge Cosatu on suspension Numsa disappointed in Dlamini: Jim Vavi\u2019s allies warn of internal revolt at Cosatu Vavi rape accuser\u2019s rights trampled – Cosatu Give Cosatu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-22002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22002\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}