×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

'Never trust an individual': Vavi

NOW : Zwelinzima Vavi at the NUMSA conference at Coastlands Hotel. Pic:TEBOGO LETSIE
NOW : Zwelinzima Vavi at the NUMSA conference at Coastlands Hotel. Pic:TEBOGO LETSIE

Following his support of President Jacob Zuma in the run-up to the ANC elective conference in Polokwane in 2007‚ the former Cosatu leader today expressed his disillusionment with the macro-economic policies of the Zuma administration.

“Never trust an individual. Trust an institution because it will never disappoint you‚” said Vavi.

“I have learnt my lesson. We are learning lessons every day.” Vavi said unemployment and inequality had reached crisis levels under Zuma’s watch‚ despite promises of wide-ranging pro-worker reforms following what organised labour viewed as former president Thabo Mbeki’s neo-liberal policies.

Cosatu‚ which is now dominated by a faction sympathetic to Zuma‚ has been unable to resist attempts to implement e-tolls as well as the National Development Plan.

Denies financial wrongdoing

Former Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi has labelled a report purporting to link him to some financial irregularities as “exceedingly damaging“.

But Vavi insisted that many of the findings against him were arrived at through assumptions.

He dismissed any suggestion of a conflict of interest arising out of his wife allegedly having done business with a Cosatu service provider‚ including the hiring of his daughter by another.

Vavi told reporters in Morningside‚ Sandton‚ in Johannesburg‚ that he had not broken any of Cosatu’s procurement policies in relation to the acquisition of the federation’s swanky new headquarters.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.