COSATU+Gauteng+statement+on+CEC+and+Gautrain



=COSATU Gauteng statement=

The Congress of South African Trade Unions Gauteng Province agrees totally with the statement issued by the COSATU Central Executive Committee on 25 May 2006, which stated that “the main concern of the CEC centres on signs that we may be drifting towards dictatorship. This appears in the use of state institutions in narrow factional fights. We see it in the use of sections of the media to assassinate the character of individuals through off-the-record briefings and the leaking of sensitive information in the hands of those charged to investigate crimes. Examples include the use of public institutions, including the NPA against Jacob Zuma, the purging of allegedly pro Zuma faction in the security services, the arrest of COSATU leaders at the Swaziland border and in Cape Town and the heavy handed nature of the police dealings with protests”.

The statement served as a warning that our democratic institutions are under threat. The CEC was not saying that we are already living under a dictatorship but was motivated by a concern to defend and protect our democracy, which is what we as Gauteng Province were saying.

It is completely untrue, as suggested by sections of the media that there is a breaking of ranks between the provincial and national COSATU structures. The Gauteng Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) is fully in support of the CEC statement.

The statement in the Sowetan report on 6 June 2006 that “Both Cosatu and the SACP previously supported the ANC’s deputy president, Jacob Zuma, as Mbeki’s successor” is false. Neither body has ever supported any candidate and has consistently said it is for the ANC alone to decide on who their office bearers should be. We demand that the Sowetan retract this statement.

It is also untrue, as suggested in the media, that there has been a change in COSATU Gauteng Province’s view over the Gautrain. In the context of the positions taken by COSATU in respect of the Gautrain, the Gauteng Alliance urged the provincial government to meet with the federation on their concerns. This in no way contradicts COSATU’s submission under Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act to initiate protest action against this project.


 * Phutas Tseki, COSATU Gauteng Provincial Chairperson – 082 498 5840**

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