Frank Maponya

Frank Maponya

Cosatu in Limpopo was taken by surprise by the resignation of its chairman, Willie Mokwalakwala, raising suspicions that he is also heading for Shikota.

Mokwalakwala, who served two terms as provincial leader, tendered his resignation amid allegations that he would follow former Cosatu president Willie Madisha to establish a new party.

Mokwalakwala, who was popular with the union's branches in the province, took everybody by surprise when he called it quits on Tuesday.

But it is not entirely surprising that Mokwalakwala has finally ended his relationship with Cosatu.

There were several attempts by some of the union's PEC members to oust him. It started in 2006 during the federation's provincial conference in which some leaders accused Mokwalakwala of publicly supporting Madisha.

They tried in vain to pass a motion of no confidence against the likeable leader.

"I have arrived at a decision to call it quits as the federation's provincial leader and I wish my decision to be respected," he said.

Cosatu provincial secretary Jan Tsiane confirmed that they had met and accepted Mokwalakwala's resignation.

"Leaving Cosatu is an individual decision and we were not going to stand in Mokwalakwala's way," Tsiane said.