Defiance requires moral virtue not compromised characters to succeed

30 March 2015

Mr Zwelinzima Vavi`s RECENT diatribes must be viewed as public posturing of a coward running away from taking responsibility for his acts. This is a man whose ambitions to become the Deputy President of the ANC and obviously of the country were dashed towards the ANC Mangaung Conference in 2012 when his lobbyist did not succeed. Worse is that the sexual scandal has worsened any second chance for pursuing any possibility to that effect. As a result, this makes him a desperate man who will do anything to feel better.

If he is a champion of the working class as he professes he would have protected and defended the young woman he sexually molested in the office. Worse was his reference to that young staff member as ‘nopatazana' which according to isiXhosa speakers means a bitchy conduct by a lady yet this man went to her office. This is how Vavi never takes responsibility.

Thus, he blames a dominant faction within Cosatu to be responsible for all the challenges that now exist and not his behaviour and the figurehead of the Federation. If there is a dominant faction ruling Cosatu how come has he continued to be the General Secretary unless he belonged to it? If there is a war within the faction why is he running to the public and not fight it out as he did in the past?

Furthermore, the President of the ANC Jacob Zuma at the reburial of JB Marks recently called for the special meeting of Alliance partners to iron out challenges within Cosatu, ANC and SACP. He indicated that this will assist the alliance to catch the witch. Any ordinary person can see that he is running away from such engagement because he is a coward who never takes responsibility.

Vavi`s assertion that he is not attending meetings of the CEC as an act of defiance is an attempt to mislead the public. An act of defiance has moral virtue if it is led by someone with impeccable moral standing in society and unfortunately Vavi has lost that aura through office-promiscuity. Had NUMSA not planned to launch its United Front in April 2015 this cowardly opportunist will still be seating pretty and bemoaning in the CEC.

Statement issued by Livhuwani Mammburu: Acting NUM National Spokesperson, March 30 2015

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter