The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said that the African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee could not distance itself from delays in prosecuting those implicated in the VBS bank scandal and use that as a reason to reinstate Florence Radzilani and Danny Msiza.
Samwu said that two of its members were killed in Limpopo for allegedly speaking out against corruption at VBS.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) added its voice and said that it would mobilise the working class to campaign against the ANC’s insensitive decision.
The fallout between the ANC and its alliance partners over its decision on Limpopo officials continues. Samwu president John Dlamini said: “It cost the lives of our leaders and even today we could not see progress with regards to ensuring that the law finds its course. We are disappointed by that decision.”
Samwu said that the African National Congress’ Nasrec resolution that said officials implicated in corruption must step aside. The union added that it was disingenuous for the party to say that Radzilani and Msiza were reinstated because they were not prosecuted in two years.
“If the ANC is not careful, by virtue of this character, there might be individuals, not the ANC per se, who want use the ANC to advance their narrow interests by accumulation of wealth and capture.
Samwu said that it was also the ANC government that had failed to prosecute those implicated in the VBS scandal and the party could not distance itself from the delays.