The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) says it will support the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) rally in Marikana in the North West and make sure that President Cyril Ramaphosa attends.
The NUM is planning to host the rally in October to demand the safety of workers at the Lonmin Platinum Mine which is now owned by Sibanye, and to hold those involved in the Marikana massacre to account.
Cosatu president, Zingiswa Losi, says they will ensure that Ramaphosa attends the rally, as he had promised to visit Marikana and talk to all stakeholders. She was briefing the media in Johannesburg.
“You will recall that even towards the elections the President intended to go to Marikana. For whatever reason, from his office and he did not go. But Cosatu is saying with the NUM and the workers in Marikana, because what the media sometimes portrays that NUM has no place in Marikana, the ANC has no place in Marikana, Cosatu has no place in Marikana and Marikana is an area for Amcu is not true.”
Cosatu has also warned against what it calls political opportunism and a culture of vote-buying at conferences. The labour federation’s first deputy president, Mike Shingange says this leads to influence peddling by the funders.
This comes after a huge debate on how billions of rand were used to fund Cyril Ramaphosa for his African National Congress (ANC) presidential campaign in 2017. This includes the R500 000 Bosasa donation.
Shingange says they are concerned about how things are being done in the African National Congress (ANC).
“We are making a call that it is high time that the ANC must revisit this matter and indeed find a way of regulating the utilisation of the money in inter-political contestations. For as long as we don’t have that policy, we’ll forever remain concerned, but we’ll not demonise those who use the money or fund raise for the purposes of campaigning.”
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