Cosatu+must+walk+the+talk,+Christelle+Terreblanche,+Sunday+Independent

Sunday Independent, January 28, 2007 //Edition 1//
=Cosatu must walk the talk=


 * Christelle Terreblanche**

The jury is out on which way Cosatu will jump, as it reiterated its intention this week to build a broad social coalition with civil society to challenge the ANC's economic policies.

This comes in the wake of the ANC lekgotla decision to establish its own "broad front for development" to eradicate poverty, drawing on the experiences of the broad movements against apartheid, such as the United Democratic Front.

At the same lekgotla, another fallout between Cosatu and the ANC ensued, primarily over resolutions taken at the trade union federation's ninth congress in September last year. Cosatu leaders walked out when allegedly accused of trying to turn the ANC into a socialist movement.

After an initial silence over the incident, Zwelinzima Vavi, Cosatu general secretary responded with venom to the ANC's criticism of its congress resolutions, saying the ruling party had embraced "capitalism" all the way.

"Quite clearly there is a strategy [by the ANC] to put us on the back foot," Vavi told The Sunday Independent.

He insisted that next month would see Cosatu's building of "a broad front of social forces with civil society", starting in the Western Cape.

But as the seventh World Social Forum (WSF) concluded in Nairobi, with an unprecedented pledge between union federations and social movements globally to work together against neo-liberal policies and globalisation, South African labour, including Cosatu, was all but invisible. There was no input by Cosatu, one of Africa's largest union federation's, when a first-ever formal network between mainstream international labour and "left" social movements globally was launched within the WSF.

The WSF saw by far the largest ever participation of labour federations from across the world and African country labour delegations up to a 100 strong, while only a handful of Cosatu leaders were present.

It was instead South Africa's 200-strong Social Forum Indaba delegation that became the dominant African voice alongside host country Kenya, mapping the way forward for civil society at the world's biggest anti-capitalist forum. Cosatu's lukewarm participation begs the question of whether it was ready - as it says, and resolved - to embrace more radical civil society organisations to build a front to challenge ANC policy, without breaking ranks with the ANC's rival "poverty front".

Cosatu resolved last year that "a popular movement towards socialism, located within a restructured alliance and involving a range of mass movements, must be formed to assert the leadership of the working class", including the pro-socialist social movements. Political parties are not traditionally part of the forum.

Asked whether Cosatu's near-invisibility at the WSF was an indication that the resolutions about building the "popular movement" were mere alliance rhetoric, Vavi pledged that in working with civil society from now on, "there will be no talk of [the ANC] alliance, [but] talk just about what we should be doing together".

He said Cosatu was forced to renege on its silence over the alliance infighting because affiliates were under pressure from members.

"We have a strong mandate from congress to work far more strongly with civil society formations, including the social movements, on [for instance] the commodification of services, development and poverty in rural areas," Vavi said.

While this was in line with the spirit of the alliances formed at the WSF, it is not clear whether 2007 will signal a defining moment in alliance politics that could set the tone for a broad "left" movement similar to the ones that have forced significant pro-poor economic policy shifts, and some power shifts, in nine Latin American countries recently.

At the WSF, where activists attributed the shifts largely to pacts between labour and social movements, there were mixed feelings about whether Cosatu was ready to take the leap.

Zico Tamela, the international secretary of the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union, said it was "a serious problem" that, despite the resolutions, there was no joining of forces at the WSF.

He put it down to organisational pressures, but said the social movements should also do more to reach out.

"I think it is a question of the will on Cosatu's part. There is still little will on Cosatu's part," Tamela said.


 * From: http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3650065**

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