Vavi the bonfire to Malema's vanity?

Zwelinzima Vavi, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, on Tuesday warned of the possibility of a split in the tripartite alliance if the ANC were to proceed with disciplinary charges.

Vavi, who is an ordinary member of the ANC as well, told the SABC that this has the potential of breaking the very basis of the alliance and destroying the whole notion of dual membership.

Has he been charged?

The issue of overturning the ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) decision against ANCYL President Julius Malema, was discussed at the ANC National Working Committee (NWC) meeting on Monday. Somehow this has allegedly mutated into charging Vavi.

Though Vavi has not as yet received formal charges from the ANC, unofficial sources from within the party have confirmed that they are on their way. Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said that they have had confirmation “from sources within the ANC. We haven’t been told officially”.

What are the charges?

They purportedly relate to an incident last Thursday whereby Vavi allegedly accused President Jacob Zuma of not taking action against corrupt ministers. In particular the ministers of co-operative governance, Sicelo Shiceka, and communications, Siphiwe Nyanda, with Vavi claiming that the former had lied in his CV and the latter spent half-a-million rand on hotels in Cape Town which needed to be investigated.

How does this impact on the tripartite alliance

Subsequent to elections both Cosatu and the South African Communist Party have expressed the view that it is the alliance, rather than the ANC, which should be the centre of power.

This was rejected by the ANC.

This led to the bitterness over the ANC’s refusal to implement economic policies that the left-wing members of the alliance were expecting post-elections.

At the SACP special conference in Polokwane certain ANC delegates — primarily Malema — were heckled and booed by the crowd. This led to the ANCYL threatening war.

Cosatu, and particularly Vavi, have been calling for lifestyle audits into members of the alliance, which has not gone down well with the ANC. This alleged attack on ministers last Thursday being considered over the top.

In aggregate it represents much of the ongoing friction between the ANC and its alliance partners at present.

Charges against Vavi versus Malema

The youth league leader was finally charged with being guilty of contravening Rule 25.5.(i) of the Constitution of the African National Congress by behaving in such a way as to provoke serious divisions or a break-down of unity in the organisation. This flowing from his suggestion that former president Thabo Mbeki would never have spoken to the ANCYL in public the way that President Jacob Zuma had.

However that was merely the endgame.

The charges arose because Malema repeatedly undermined Zuma on Zimbabwe, dealings with the Afrikaner community and a number of other issues. The NDC finally being brought in after the youth league president was proving to be unstoppable in his disregard for everyone and anyone.

He was then required to :

Apologise to the president and attend anger-management classes.

Pay a R10 000 fine to a youth-development project within the next three months and attend the ANC’s political school for 20 days.

Importantly : Should he be found guilty of contravening rule 25.5 (i) of the ANC Constitution within the next two years, his membership of the ANC shall be summarily suspended, for a period to be determined by the NDC.

In the case of Vavi, however, we are witnessing a consistency of conduct that appears to be beyond reproach. Cosatu has called for lifestyle audits with the issues being raised against the ministers concerned a normal part of that process.

Where it falls foul of the ANC is that the National Executive Committee did warn that members who attack other members in public could face severe sanction.

However the difference between Malema and Vavi — if it is the case — being charged is obvious. In the case of the former it was ongoing belligerence founded upon a belief of being untouchable versus criticism by a leader of the alliance against those whom Cosatu believed were not fulfilling the standards required for good governance.

Problem

The ANCYL as is evidenced by their conduct refuse to accept that their president has been disciplined. As a result they tackled the NWC on Monday.

The NWC, in order to either divert attention or placate them, looked at laying charges against Vavi.

The NWC was not the correct forum to consider overturning the NDC’s decision on Malema in the first place. That function rests with the appeals committee. Moreover Vavi’s conduct was not inconsistent with Cosatu policy and his membership of the ANC would need to be stretched a very long way to overlook his seniority within the alliance.

The unions affiliated to Cosatu are promising the ANC war if Vavi is charged and it would be highly reckless of the ANC to proceed against Vavi in light thereof.

Malema has been disciplined — let that be the end of it.