COSATU+hands+Zuma+its+wish+list,+Musgrave+and+Omarjee,+Weekender



=Cosatu hands Zuma its ‘wish list’=


 * Amy Musgrave and Hajra Omarjee, Business Day Weekender, 24 November 2007**

//Unionist says the congress is unhappy with Jacob Zuma’s list//

THE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), one of the main backers of Jacob Zuma’s presidential campaign, is said to be dissatisfied with the African National Congress (ANC) deputy president’s national executive committee (NEC) list, saying it wanted more of its members added to the list.

The union is said to have mooted a separate “wish list” which it is circulating this week.

It is feared that Zuma’s reliance on Cosatu in his presidential campaign would not be without cost, and it would appear that the Cosatu wish list is the federation’s first attempt to leverage its support for Zuma.

The party’s provinces are meeting this weekend to decide who to support at the ANC national conference next month. Cosatu cannot vote at the national conference, but its individual members, who are going to Polokwane as ANC members, can.

Although the wish list (a copy of which is in The Weekender’s possession) contains 10 names which also appear on the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) list, Cosatu has added a further 14 names, resulting in 24 candidates.

The 10 people on both lists are: ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula, Sports and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile, South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande, his deputy Jeremy Cronin, ANC NEC member Ebrahim Ebrahim, National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) president Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, ANC MP Ncumisa Kondlo, SACP central committee member George Mashamba, Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies and Limpopo arts and culture MEC Joyce Mashamba.

The other names on Cosatu’s list include Nehawu general secretary Fikile Majola, South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union general secretary Randall Howard, Young Communist League president David Masondo, National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s Irvin Jim, sacked deputy health minister Nosiviwe Madlala-Routledge, Cosatu deputy president Sidumo Dlamini, Parliament’s justice committee chairman Yunus Carrim and Cosatu treasurer Alina Rantsolase.

Although Cosatu has thrown its weight behind Zuma, it believes his NEC list is not leftist enough.

“We have a view that the (Zuma) list does not come close enough to the criteria of who we want,” a Cosatu insider said this week.

The Cosatu list is one of many circulating in ANC branches and marks the start of the behind the scenes horse trading expected to dominate discussions until the ANC’s elective conference is over.

The presidential race continues to be dominated by President Thabo Mbeki’s re-election bid and Zuma’s bid for control of the party.

While other presidential hopefuls — such as businessmen Tokyo Sexwale and Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe and Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma — have received a handful of nominations from a few ANC branches, they are not expected to make the grade.

A presidential nominee requires the support of an entire province to be eligible for candidacy of the ANC presidency.

However, Cosatu says it is hoping to get up to 15 of its recommended candidates onto the NEC list at the December conference. “If we can get at least 10-15 people on the NEC, we can be sure that our interests will be represented,” the insider said.

Interestingly, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi was nominated by the ANCYL, but is not on Cosatu’s wish list.

The preferred candidates on the Zuma and Mbeki lists will have to compete head to head this weekend for the support of the ANC’s provincial structures.

On the Mbeki list, DlaminiZuma has been nominated for the position of ANC deputy president. Before she makes a decision on whether to stand, she will have to assess Motlanthe’s support for the position, as he has been nominated for the post by the Zuma camp.

ANC chairman Mosiuoa Lekota, nominated by the Mbeki camp, will have to compete with SACP general secretary Gwede Mantashe, nominated by the Zuma camp, for the position of secretary-general.

Meanwhile provinces will have to decide between Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, nominated by the Mbeki camp, and former Mpumalanga premier Matthews Phosa, nominated by the Zuma camp, for the position of national treasurer.

While the lists indicate how the two camps have divided their support, it is understood that compromises will be part of the eventual outcome at the conference in Limpopo. There are already hints that some ANCYL provinces will nominate Stofile for the post of ANC chairman, despite the league officially endorsing Dlamini-Zuma.

In the first results emerging from the provinces, it is understood that Zuma secured Mpumalanga with 269 votes to Mbeki’s 37.

This follows a pattern laid out at the close of branch nominations, which reflected that Zuma had also secured KwaZulu-Natal, with a strong showing in Gauteng.

Mbeki is expected to secure the presidential nomination in North West and Western Cape.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=3066739**

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