Ido lekota

Ido lekota

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) yesterday endorsed Jacob Zuma to lead the ANC after the party's national congress in December.

A resolution at the labour federation's four-day central committee recommending Zuma for the ANC presidency was passed yesterday.

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said although the labour federation did not have the powers to nominate ANC leaders, it wanted to guide its members - who are also ANC members - on who the right leaders for the workers would be.

Cosatu's endorsement is another feather in the cap of Zuma's campaign to succeed President Thabo Mbeki as leader of the ANC and possibly of the country.

The endorsement follows another recent one by the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).

Both Cosatu and the ANCYL want the president of the ANC to also be the president of the country in 2009.

Delegates at the ANC policy conference in June also said they would prefer to have the president of the ANC becoming the president of the country.

Just like the ANCYL, Cosatu also recommends current ANC general secretary Kgalema Motlanthe for deputy president, Gwede Mantashe for secretary-general, Baleka Mbete for deputy secretary-general and Matthews Phosa for treasurer general.

The Cosatu resolution comes in the wake of the defeat suffered in the Western Cape last weekend by those campaigning to allow Mbeki a third term as ANC president.