Cosatu, a serial waster of workers’ time

The 2022 congress of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has come and gone.

Cosatu members booed ANC chair Gwede Mantashe right off the stage. He did not get to deliver the party’s message of support – or, in the hecklers’ words, more ’empty promises’.

Other than this, there was no spectacle at the event. Even the election of new leadership, a once fiercely contested affair, was a muted process. Those who were expecting to emerge victorious did become leaders.

There have always been grumblings of annoyance within the Tripartite Alliance, and – akin to the South African Communist Party (SACP) conference held two months ago – the great debate and significant conversation centred on the ANC and its succession battle.

Whether to continue supporting the ANC or leave the alliance and contest the elections on their own is not a simple matter for Cosatu and the SACP.

It is apparent that despite their loyalties to the ANC, their members’ interests should not be diluted by putting the ruling party’s interests ahead of those of the workers.

After all, the federation’s ability to use its resources and mobilise its members and their families and communities to support the ANC when campaigning during election season has been an advantage to the party.

Too close for comfort

Just as the ANC is in decline, so is its union ally Cosatu. The latter’s congress illustrates this point.

Deliberations on matters affecting workers, such as the Eskom crisis and the country’s economic recovery plan, are compromised by the federation’s proximity to the governing party.

Any harsh criticism of the current government policy response would be seen as an attack on President Cyril Ramaphosa and his faction.

Ultimately debates tend to be on politicking instead of responding to the concerns of members.

The political leverage unions once had by linking with parties no longer serves or advances the interests of their members. At least not in the way Cosatu has been doing.

The governing ANC has repeatedly demonstrated that it will not advance pro-worker policies, leaving workerist Cosatu leaders frustrated.

Furthermore, the rank and file of different unions under Cosatu are dissatisfied with their leaders.

Believe it or not

To understand a seemingly straightforward decision – heed the call from members to leave the alliance and pursue the elections independently– is better explained by the economics of ‘Believe it or not’. That is, believing the costs of staying in the alliance and supporting the ANC for the 2024 national elections outweigh the costs of going it on their own.

Why, then, does Cosatu’s leadership believe that staying in the alliance benefits them?

For a rational person, the dilemma for a Cosatu that is at a crossroad in the alliance will make more sense when assessed through an economic analysis approach. For one thing, a significant economic trade-off Cosatu has to deal with is balancing the costs and benefits of staying or leaving.

For years, the federation has sought to influence and win policy positions and ideological battles from within the alliance – without success, and a split makes more sense.

The fact is that ultimately the Tripartite Alliance will break up, especially when Cosatu finally acknowledges that the way in which the alliance developed has reduced it to a labour arm of the governing ANC.

Whether Cosatu mobilising millions to vote for the ANC contributes in rands to the party’s kitty should no longer be debated.

Applying an ordinary cost-benefit analysis can be illuminating …

Firstly, playing insider politics for years has led to Cosatu ignoring pressing and urgent challenges in the workplace, leading to the erosion of organised strength.

Secondly, it has failed to take advantage of being the leading civil society organisation in the country by speaking only for a select few. Suppose the organised strength was to extend beyond workplace issues and speak to diverse issues affecting society, how would that turn out?

Thirdly, besides ANC support for not changing labour laws, what has being close to the governing party done for the Cosatu of today?

Is the former a concrete enough reason to remain in the alliance? I don’t think so.

In the fourth instance, an optimistic corollary to the cost-benefit analysis is the belief that staying in the alliance is suitable for Cosatu and does less harm than leaving.

However, the current set-up paints a different picture, showing me (i) a former unionist in a senior government position who no longer represents their union’s interests but rather the ANC’s, and (ii) worker interests that are affected by political decisions that get contested and lost at alliance gatherings.

Former union leaders who presumed proximity to power would score a point from workers had they not been proven wrong from the onset.

They, these individuals, have gained at the expense of the unions they once served.

Finally, over time, the truth – the fact that the alliance in its current form has not worked for Cosatu – is costly to deal with for union federation leaders who are determined to climb the political ladder to a government office.

Unionists don’t live by principles alonr and have shown us that money, power and dangerous ambition for political office are what drive them.

That is why Cosatu will stay in the alliance for as long as it suits its leader’s bank balance and lifestyle.