ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule.
Felix Dlangamandla, Netwerk24
- ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule sent Cosatu in Limpopo an invitation to meet to discuss the party’s decision to reinstate Florence Radzilani and Danny Msiza.
- Radzilani and Msiza have been implicated in the VBS looting scandal.
- The SACP has also voiced its displeasure over the ANC’s decision to reinstate them.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Limpopo has rejected an ANC invitation for a meeting to “communicate” the party’s national executive committee (NEC) decision to reinstate two provincial leaders implicated in the VBS scandal.
On Wednesday, ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule sent the invitation for Thursday’s meeting to the provincial federation.
The two leaders, provincial deputy chairperson Florence Radzilani and treasurer Danny Msiza, were recently reinstated to their positions.
But Cosatu provincial secretary Gerald Twala sent a letter to Magashule on Thursday, rejecting the invitation on the basis that the federation was opposed to the reinstatement of the two leaders.
Concern was also raised about the ignorance of “alliance protocols, in that the leadership of one formation cannot convene a sub-national structure of another formation without the knowledge and/or involvement of the national leadership of that formation”.
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In a letter also copied to other members of the party’s top six, Twala said:”We need to ask whether the ANC NEC decision on reinstatement of the two leaders was consulted with [the] national alliance political council or not.
“We are of the firm view that the matter must be treated with the seriousness it deserves regarding meaningful consulting with the alliance, the MDM (mass democratic movement) structures and the victims of [the] VBS collapse.”
Twala also pointed to the provincial federation’s resolution that reinstatement of the two leaders should only happen after they have cleared their names in the VBS scandal.
“That until such time that our national office bearers have been taken into confidence by the ANC national officials on the NEC decision, as a province we are not ready to engage,” Twala wrote.
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He confirmed to News24 that the federation had written a letter to Magashule declining an invitation for a meeting.
The South African Communist Party has also voiced its opposition to the decision.
This week, the Vhembe Fraternal Organisation – a formation of ANC and community-based structures in the district – warned of difficulties and loss of votes in the upcoming municipal elections.
The organisation was also concerned that the decision was deepening factionalism in the ANC in the province.
