Keyword: COSATU

Paranoia Stalks the Halls of Power

Picture: President Jacob Zuma and COSATU President Sdumo Dlamini courtesy GoverntmentZA/Flickr. Richard Pithouse - (T)he paranoid construction is … an attempt to heal ourselves, to pull ourselves out of the real "illness", the "end of the world", the breakdown of the symbolic universe. − Slavoj Zizek, Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture, 1991 Sdumo Dlamini recently informed listeners of a Jo'burg radio station that a multi-headed snake was slithering through South Africa fermenting dissent against the ANC. In the lead up to Mangaung...

Can COSATU's Former Glory Be Restored?

Picture: COSATU Secretary General Zwelizima Vavi, President Jacob Zuma and COSATU President Sdumo Dlamini during the 5th COSATU Central Committee gathering held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand courtesy GovernmentZA/Flickr. Frank Meintjies - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a giant, but a wounded one. For over 25 years, it has dominated the labour scene as the voice of organised workers. But now, there are big changes in the world of trade unions and rumblings that new forces are entering the scene. This has been brought to the fore with the emergence of Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and its rise to majority union status in the platinum sector. Writing in the wake of Marikana,...

Vavi: Discursive Tension Stifles Rape Discussion

Picture: Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of Congress of South African Trade Unions courtesy GovernmentZA/Flickr. Mandisi Majavu - One of the issues that the rape allegations against Zwelinzima Vavi highlighted is the unresolved discursive tension between feminists and anti-racists. This discursive tension  stems from the way in which both the feminist and anti-racist intellectual tradition respectively regard sexuality as a site upon which the oppression of women and the repression of black masculinity occurs. Feminists understand rape as a violent patriarchal tool that some men use to assert their power over...

The Sterile Spirit of the Overseer

Picture: libcom.org Richard Pithouse - The deep roots of May Day lie in the ancient forests of Europe. Long before the idea of one God, one stern God, had made its way across the Mediterranean Spring was marked by planting trees, adorning people and homes with sprigs, blossoms and garlands, the erection of Maypoles, lighting bonfires on hilltops, dancing, drinking and general revelry. This celebration of the shared bounty of the natural world was incorporated, along with many other ideas and festivals, into European Christianity...

Mangaung Versus Marikana: COSATU Chooses Sides

Picture: Adapted by SACSIS from various sources. Leonard Gentle - In the run up to the September COSATU Congress, the media began to float the story that Zwelenzima Vavi’s position as General Secretary was going to be challenged by NUM, NEHAWU and SADTU because of his perceived opposition to Jacob Zuma. A subtext to this was the idea of the congress as some kind of debating forum where workers would reflect seriously on critical issues facing the labour movement and where there would be the rough and tumble of debate and contestation. But two...

Labour Expert: This Could be Cosatu's Last Congress

Picture: Adapted by SACSIS from various sources. Video The shadow of the Marikana massacre hangs over Cosatu as its 11th Elective Congress takes place a month after the police brutally killed more than 34 miners who worked at Lonmin mine. Ighsaan Schroeder, Director of the Casual Workers Advice Office talks about the meaning of Marikana for Cosatu and trade unions in general. This interview was recorded on September, 17, the opening day of Cosatu's 2012 congress. Schroeder argues that Marikana signals the death rattle for Cosatu. He is not...