The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) says it will only announce its preferred candidate for African National Congress (ANC) Presidency after its Central Committee meeting in May. This alliance partner has been central in deciding who should lead the governing party in the past. It is known for backing former President Jacob Zuma for ANC presidency in 2007 and Cyril Ramaphosa in 2017.
Cosatu was also vocal on its call for the recall of Zuma ahead of the Nasrec conference. But speaking to the SABC on the outcomes of their Central Executive Committee meeting, the federation’s General Secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali says they also have an interest in who becomes the ANC President.
“We are discussing, we are doing an assessment within our unions, from politics and economy and we are developing our own discussion documents. We are coming from our own provincial conferences, we are listening to what our members are saying and we believe by the May CEC we will be able to have an in-depth discussion and we think at that time we will be at a better time to say who should lead the ANC. We know it is not our space but we have an interest,” says Ntshalintshali.
