Radicalize the working class to avoid palace maneuvers

Our revolution in order to succeed must never depend on Zwelinzima Vavi too much, because if they target or kill him, they would have delayed this revolution for decades. By their nature, revolutions take time to build alternative and credible leaders. This is because revolutions depend on selflessness and loyalty which are traits that take time to be recognized in individuals. Thus, if dependent on an individual all counter-revolutionaries would have to do is destroy a popular leader or leaders at a certain time, and thus delay a revolution for decades as it tries to mould another generation.

For example, ever since the brutal slaying of Chris Hani which delayed working class struggle by almost decades it took time for the revolution to build another revolutionary as popular, radical and credible as Hani. This signifies the core weakness of a revolution depending on an individual. What is needed rather, is to increase the self-activity of the working class and ensure that the working class becomes its own liberator meaning any attempt at destroying individuals will fall flat on its head.

Over the years, we have seen a young Vavi who began to walk and talk in the same path as Hani. It is in Vavi that workers put their hopes and had almost as much love as they did in Chris Hani. Knowing that Chris Hani is no longer alive and also knowing that some of his colleagues are rushing for plum government jobs, Vavi had no choice but to carry the aspirations of the working class almost single-handedly on his shoulders together with the SACP General Secretary Blade Nzimande for a period.

On more than one occasion he has refused to get into the ANC NEC. He even went as far as refusing a Ministerial position, instead choosing to remain in the modest position of COSATU General Secretary. The same cannot be said of Blade who has not held-out on a belief he once stated that like Chris Hani he merely wants to remain Party GS and lead extra-parliamentary struggles. Not only has he gone to government, he has opted to ensure that the Party changes its constitution rather than vacate his position.

In the absence of alternative organizations it has been the unshaken radicalism of COSATU and indeed that of Vavi has succeeded to ensure that South Africa does not turn into a Banana republic where corruption is the order of the day and the poor and working class are ignored or are left to be feeding ground for capitalist hyenas. Indeed, had it not been for the Vavi factor, our society would long have gone to the hangman's noose everybody knows that. But in all this, Vavi has simply turned into a political commentator because his words and actions have not been accompanied with the strengthening of working class power.

Clearly Vavi's unshaken radicalism was not going to go unnoticed by those who want to continue stealing government resources and those who want to continue to profit out of the sweat of workers. His loneliness in the absence of working class mobilization had become his weakest point, thus it has been easy to isolate and attack him as an individual such that towards the end of last year his opponents told themselves that they will not allow him to continue otherwise he will jeopardise their chances of getting all the honey. It is either they kill him in order to silence him or that they must make unfounded allegations about him in newspapers in order to diminish the strength of his voice. Because what he has been is an analyst rather than a revolutionary directing masses of the working class in struggle.

It is in this context that Zwelinzima Vavi has been besieged since last year by anonymous sources speaking about internal issues at COSATU and accusing Vavi of all manner of things. But many of their allegations were not going to stick. When in February they said in newspapers as anonymous sources he is corrupt, he said they must provide those newspapers with evidence and he would resign. It is five months now, not a single one of those newspaper sources have brought evidence.

So rather than focus their energies on building and sustaining a strong mass movement, these anonymous sources have been busy fighting internal battles using some of the most problematic means which include leaks to the media.

True to form, ever since the attacks on Vavi started late last year, COSATU has not been able to drive a single mass campaign. This is because the rank and file of COSATU have become almost like a tap that Vavi is able to open and close at will and thus if he no longer has the will, the membership of COSATU does not have power of its own within its unions to drive a radical mass campaign.

Destroying Vavi will not stop the fact that people are poor and that workers are paid a pittance under the nose of the ANC government which thus far has not succeeded to defeat poverty and redistribute South Africa's wealth. Rather than tackle this, some have sought to pretend this problem does not exist and want to kill all those who dare raise this fact. They need to know that it is not Vavi that is the problem but the problem is poverty, corruption and capitalism.

What we need is to ensure that the working class movement creates not just one Vavi but creates many more Vavi's. This literally means we must increase the mobilization and strengthening the collective power and capacity of the working class to act as a class rather than depend on the goodwill of a singular leader. This is so that those who are hell-bent on destroying him know that by destroying Vavi they will not succeed to destroy the revolution. It is when we increase the level of radicalism and activity of the working class that political hyenas can realize that destroying Vavi will not achieve anything. For now, we will keep chasing our own shadows.

Is Vavi a saint? Certainly not, like all humans he is prone to commit adultery and other personal mistakes, but he has never betrayed the trust of workers. When workers elected Vavi, they knew very well he is a human being, they therefore were not trying to elect a priest. They expect him to stick by revolutionary morality which includes selflessness rather than religious morality which emphasises spiritual purity.

The working class must rise up and advance its demands which include the banning of labour brokers, radical economic transformation, democratic control over the commanding heights of the economy, scrapping of e-tolling, a living wage, a better tax system, free education and socialism. It is through swamping the streets with mass protests that the ruling class will realize that it is not Vavi that is the problem but it is a system that is corrupt and exploitative that needs to be ended.

Lazola Ndamase is Education Secretary of COSATU and writes in his personal capacity

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