Cosatu-aligned unions do not want President Jacob Zuma to address the official May 1 celebrations taking place in the Free State next week. Two Cosatu affiliates, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union and the Communication Workers Union, have written to the federation, indicating that they would prefer it if Zuma did not address them. Cosatu has called on Zuma to resign or be pushed out of office. Unions are concerned that their members may react negatively to the president. However, the "Ace factor" in the province may still come into play. Free State chairman Ace Magashule is a staunch Zuma backer and is understood to be pulling out all the stops to ensure that Zuma backers are brought in to counter any anti-Zuma sentiment at the rally. This could mean another divisive public event in which ANC succession politics comes to the fore — akin to the memorial services of ANC stalwart Ahmed Kathrada and the wreath-laying ceremony of former South African Communist Party...
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