Cosatu to take a view on Zuma's cabinet reshuffle

Trade union federation Cosatu is expected to clarify its stance on President Jacob Zuma’s controversial cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions held a special central executive committee (CEC) meeting on Monday to discuss‚ among other issues‚ the implications of Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle which saw the axing of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.

The reshuffle that sent shockwaves around the country.

Cosatu on Monday criticised Zuma’s appointment of former Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba as the new Finance Minister‚ saying that he was not the right person for the job because he lacked a background in economics.

“Gigaba is no economist. We need to bring more progressive economic thinkers in that institution so that they temper the hard-line neo-liberal position of the past. Gigaba is not going to formulate policy as a political head. He is going to provide political leadership to people who are in charge of analysing the global economic situation‚” said federation spokesman Sizwe Pamla.

Clamour for Zuma's head grows after SA relegated to junk statusPresident Jacob Zuma should be recalled as leader of the African National Congress after South Africa’s downgrade to “junk status”‚ said the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) on Monday evening‚ a call quickly echoed by opposition politicians. 

“Look at the people who have been there at Treasury and look at how that institution transformed those people‚” he told The Times. “They came in there as deployed members of the ANC‚ understanding what the ANC and the alliance partners were saying‚ but when they got to the institution‚ they were transformed into components of neo-liberalism themselves‚” he said.

African National Congress (ANC) tripartite alliance partner‚ the South African Communist Party (SACP)‚ described Zuma’s reshuffle as “reckless” on Friday.

This came just hours after SACP second deputy secretary Solly Mapaila said Zuma had spoken to the party about his intention to remove Gordhan – to which the SACP had objected.

'Why didn’t you decline Zuma’s nomination?' Malema asks deputy chief justice hopefulJudge Raymond Zondi‚ who has spoken out about how women are not equally represented in the judiciary‚ was on Monday asked by EFF leader Julius Malema why he didn’t he decline his nomination to the deputy chief justice position‚ and allow it to be given to a woman instead. 

“This recklessness has provoked widespread concern and anger within the ANC itself‚ and across all sectors of our society. We have reached a decisive moment in which‚ in the considered view of the SACP leadership‚ Zuma must now resign‚” the party demanded in a statement.

Zuma sacking of Gordhan and Jonas late on Thursday has also been criticised by some of the top leadership within the ANC.

The ANC’s national working committee (NWC) is scheduled to hold an extended meeting into Tuesday as party divisions deepen over the cabinet reshuffle.

The extended special NWC meeting will include provincial chairpersons and secretaries.

— TMG Digital