BY GENEVIEVE QUINTAL JUNE 14 2016, 20:26
Picture: THE TIMES
THE South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Tuesday vowed to guard against any attempt to drive a wedge between the two organisations.
This followed a bilateral meeting held in Johannesburg on Monday, where they discussed the political situation in the country, conditions facing the working class, and the shared perspective on the "national democratic revolution".
"A lot in the unfolding political situation underlines the importance of an increased necessity for the SACP and Cosatu to work even more closely, defend their unity and develop it further," they said.
"The meeting tasked the national officials of the SACP and national office bearers of Cosatu to meet and develop a comprehensive perspective on the international and domestic balance of forces in relation to the challenges and opportunities facing national democratic revolution, our direct route to socialism."
The SACP and Cosatu said they had agreed to "deepen the fight" against corruption and corporate capture of the state and the broader movement.
However, the two organisations did not go into further detail on this matter.
The SACP has stood apart from Cosatu on the issue of state capture and the closure of the bank accounts of the politically connected Gupta family.
The party said it believed that the ANC was "misguided" in shelving its investigation into the family's conduct "as if it were just a marginal issue".
It was planning "mass action" against state capture, saying it would fight the practice both "legally and politically". The SACP was also contemplating calling on Cosatu-aligned unions to join the campaign.
In contrast, Cosatu reportedly said it would respect the ANC's decision to close the state capture investigation.
The SACP and Cosatu also stood on opposite sides on the decision by the country's four major banks to terminate banking services for companies owned by the Gupta family.
Cosatu expressed concern about the decision and the effect it would have on workers, while the SACP stood by the banks' withdrawal.
However, on shared campaigns, the two organisations said they would focus on defending the National Health Insurance, the national minimum wage, the transformation of the financial sector, and a campaign for the National Economic Development and Labour Council to convene a national jobs summit.
http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/politics/2016/06/14/sacp-and-cosatu-vow-unity