Cosatu is in a fix. As it meets for a three-day central executive committee meeting this week, two of its affiliates — its largest and the other among its smallest — have called on President Jacob Zuma to resign. At the same time, Cosatu affiliates have been chastised by the ANC for wading into the party’s succession debate, which has already deeply divided the governing party. Cosatu’s conundrum is this: if it does not make its own position clear on ANC succession, its affiliates are able to make announcements about their preferences and Cosatu risks losing face among workers who are pushing this position within its allied unions. If the federation does come out and back a candidate, it will be viewed as interfering in already hostile succession terrain in the ANC. A number of factors are influencing the debate within the federation. The South African Communist Party has significant influence in a number of Cosatu affiliates. The negative effect of this influence was felt when the ...
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