Vavi – praag.org

Vavi: Iranians tried to poison me

Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi fears for his life and has increased security to protect himself, he has told Eyewitness News.

The Cosatu secretary general said during the interview: “I am scared. This matter came to the public sphere three years ago, and it seems people who issued the threats then are still on a mission to attain that.”

Vavi told the radio station he started receiving death threats in 2010, when he received information that he would “go down” the same way as the former deputy minister of health, Dr Molefi Sefularo.

Sefularo died in a car accident in Pretoria in 2010.

Vavi reportedly said the accident was presumed to have been “engineered”.

The threat was reported to the police ministry, but nothing had come of it so far, he said.

Last year, immediately after the Cosatu held its elective congress, intelligence officials told him there was a plot by Iranians to poison him, he said.

“I was told that the plot originated from Iranian intelligence, and that someone from the non-government organisations that we, as Cosatu, work with has been hired by Iranians to poison me.”

When asked why the Iranians would want him killed, Vavi said he did not know because Cosatu and the country had good relations with Iranians.

“Months have gone by and intelligence officials have not come back to me regarding this,” he told Eyewitness News.

Vavi is facing an ongoing internal investigation into alleged corruption regarding the sale of Cosatu’s headquarters, in which he was implicated. – SAPA

‘Capitalism is the enemy’

The capitalist system is the real enemy in South Africa, Congress of SA Trade Unions general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Friday.

Problems such as xenophobia, corruption, gender-based violence, and substance abuse were rooted in economic misery, he said in Johannesburg.

“All of these are rooted in another set of three even bigger demons; unemployment, poverty, and inequality, which provide a fertile breeding ground for all the others.”

Vavi was speaking at a seminar hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand’s African centre for migration and society.

He said the latest figures on unemployment indicated things were getting “even worse”.

Statistics SA reported this week that the official unemployment rate in the first quarter of the year had risen to 25.2 percent from 24.9 percent in the last quarter of 2012.

Vavi said this did not reflect the full extent of the problem, as it excluded discouraged work seekers and those reduced to “cutting hair at the corner of the street”.

South Africa also had the most unequal society in the world, he said.

“If we do not address this, the demons… will be unleashed,” he said.

The “real enemy” was the capitalist system, which undermined social cohesion.

He dismissed business concerns that a proposed national minimum wage would lead to job losses as “propaganda and lies”.

“A national minimum wage would be a significant step towards securing greater social cohesion,” he said.

Zuma victory is in the bag

President Jacob Zuma’s supporters should focus on life after Mangaung because his victory at the ANC national conference was “sealed”, Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini boldly claimed in Durban on Sunday.

“It is obvious that Zuma will win at Mangaung. This victory is now sealed. But some people are already plotting to make his life a living hell after Mangaung. And if you lower your guard, those people will be ahead of you.”

Dlamini said Cosatu had taken a decision to support Zuma as president, Kgalema Motlanthe as deputy president and Gwede Mantashe as secretary-general.

He admitted that Cosatu leaders had been asked to engage Motlanthe so that he should not contest against Zuma, but said “that matter may have to resolve itself politically”.

Addressing the provincial shop stewards’ council, Dlamini said members of the ANC and Cosatu should be “combat-ready” to defend Zuma and Cosatu unions after Mangaung.

“We are faced with a serious problem where we are under attack from all quarters… We understand that the battle ahead will be tough. The ANC needs to be on its toes.”

Dlamini said the attack on Cosatu affiliates such as the National Union of Mineworkers was part of a bigger plot by some organisations and individuals who wanted to destroy the ANC. “They realise that the ANC keeps on winning the elections, but they want to take over, so now they are trying to destroy the ANC by destroying Cosatu first.”

Dlamini applauded the ANC members who blocked DA leader Helen Zille’s visit to Nkandla.

He said some organisations like the Friends of the Youth League had exploited some genuine demands by the workers for their own gains.

Themba Mthembu, the provincial secretary of the SACP, agreed, saying there was an “antimajoritarian offensive” being waged by parties like the DA against the ANC-led government.

“This hate campaign seeks to undermine the majority rule and the privileges that should be reaped by the majority party.”

Also speaking at the gathering, Senzo Mkhize, a member of the provincial executive committee of the ANC, was also confident Zuma would win at Mangaung, saying that he would be the one delivering the January 8 statement next year. “We will come back from Mangaung with a Zuma moment.”

Mkhize was at pains to explain that the province was not backing Zuma because he was a Zulu.

He said there had been many achievements under the Zuma-led ANC and government and that these included improving relations with alliance partners and providing clear leadership on the issue of HIV/Aids.

At the weekend, the eThekwini region also nominated ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa with regional chairman Sibongiseni Dhlomo, saying the ANC was spoilt for choice as it had many capable leaders who could fill the post.

Dhlomo said, however, the region would be willing to be “influenced” on its list of preferred candidates.

This is an indication that the pro-Zuma supporters can still back Motlanthe for re-election as deputy president, only if he does not contest the position of president.

The region also nominated Zweli Mkhize for the position of treasurer-general, Mantashe for secretary-general, Jessie Duarte for deputy secretary-general and Baleka Mbete for national chairwoman.

Meanwhile, the provincial nominations conference of the ANC Youth League could not decide on its preferred leaders at a meeting on Saturday after a quorum could not be reached. – Daily News