“The agenda is not going to succeed” – Vavi on Saftu suspension

Affiliates at Saftu have banded together to show their support for Vavi. Many have rejected the headline-making notice of intent to suspend Vavi. Vavi founded Saftu in 2017, just two years after he was ousted from  Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).

Vavi has further repudiated attempts to put him on precautionary suspension. The efforts to place him on suspension are on the grounds that he allegedly breached Saftu’s in-house policies.

Vavi responded to Saftu’s executive committee and office bearers in a letter. According to him, the labour federation’s constitution allows only the national executive committee to suspend national office bearers.

The general-secretary reassured workers that efforts to crumple Saftu will inevitably fail. He spoke about there being no leader in Saftu whose mind will fall into this “agenda”,

He added that the “agenda” to suspend him is one of a small group of people whose aim is to dampen the unity of people.

“That agenda is not going to succeed. There’s no leader of Saftu in his right mind that can fall into that agenda. It’s going to be an agenda of a tiny minority of desperate people who are determined to kill the unity of the working people. And I want to assure workers in this country that, that agenda has already failed. Look at how the unions in the labour federation have responded. We will also respond in the national executive committee.”

Zwelinzima Vavi

He’s not going anywhere! Unions come to Vavi’s defence

A number of unions affiliated with Saftu have vowed to stand by its emballed secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi, as he faces a possible suspension.

The suspension letter has been doing the rounds on social media and is dated 15 March 2022. In it, SAFTU President Mac Chavalala notes that there are “quite a number of transgressions” against him, which are tantamount to misconduct and misbehaviour.

Vavi had been given until Thursday, 17 March 2022, to provide reasons why he should not be placed on precautionary suspension following allegations of misconduct and misbehaviour