Cosatu said the rescue mission post Polokwane is now on. Zwelinzima Vavi, Cosatu secretary general and a Zuma foot soldier said the first two months after the ANC ‘watershed’ elections in Polokwane, his organisation and the South African Communist Party (SACP) committed a mistake of celebrating and admiring the sterling work of the new ruling party’s leadership.

“This was a mistake,” Vavi told a media briefing.

"When that leadership makes mistakes and make statements that have a potential of reversing the gains of Polokwane, Cosatu must speak out! We must not drop our guard," Vavi said.

He said  the campaign to save the ANC from the clutches of the technocrats who sought to bureaucratise the liberation movement is far from being over.
"The 'rescue mission' post Polokwane is on,” he said.

Vavi also slammed what he termed the "right-wing backlash" seeking to divide the ANC leadership at Luthuli House and the Union Buildings.

Referring to the Democratic Alliance urging President Thabo Mbeki to ignore the directives of the Polokwane conference, Vavi said it was clear that this response was out of fear of a "radical shift in the policy direction of our society".

“This, demonstrated that the "privileged" would do "everything to protect their interests" Vavi said.

Vavi’s call comes after Zuma recently told the Financial Mail that a "debate" was needed on labour reform a non-negotiable issue for labour federation Cosatu.

In doing so, Zuma has fired a fresh salvo in a decade-long standoff between Cosatu and the ANC over labour laws a battle that Vavi has in the past warned would leave "blood on the floor".

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