The SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) confirmed on Saturday that four of its national office bearers had been suspended.
According to a statement, the trade union will hold a media briefing on Sunday at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg to communicate decisions made at its national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Saturday.
“The motion passed with 28 votes versus two and 11 abstained. Numsa did not vote because they are not in good standing,” said the source.
The president, second vice president, national treasurer, and deputy general secretary were all suspended.
The ructions in the five-year-old Saftu last week appeared to be the result of a bitter feud between former labor allies Zwelinzima Vavi and Irvin Jim.
According to the Sunday Times, the ructions in the five-year-old Saftu last week were caused by a fierce feud between former labor partners Zwelinzima Vavi and Irvin Jim.
Vavi, the federation’s general secretary, told the Sunday Times that Jim, the head of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), was behind the “false claims” that his Saftu colleagues used to justify his suspension.
Jim’s relationship with Vavi, the former general secretary of the Cosatu trade union federation, deteriorated after the Saftu leadership refused to endorse the Socialist Revolutionary Workers’ Party (SRWP), which Numsa launched to contest the 2019 elections. Numsa is a Saftu partner.
Before they were both ejected from Cosatu in 2015, Jim and Vavi were close buddies, and Saftu was formed. Vavi was accused of, among other things, misusing a union credit card to pay for flights for his wife and ex-wife before leaving Cosatu.
