Zingiswa Losi

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 16: Cosatu Second Deputy President Zingiswa Losi at the trade union federation’s conference in Johannesburg, South Africa on May 16, 2012. (Photo by Gallo Images / Foto24 / Lerato Maduna)

Alliance in trouble?! Cosatu leader rips into ANC during meeting

Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi has absolutely torn into the ANC here! She is warning of a loss for the party in 2024.

Zingiswa Losi

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – MAY 16: Cosatu Second Deputy President Zingiswa Losi at the trade union federation’s conference in Johannesburg, South Africa on May 16, 2012. (Photo by Gallo Images / Foto24 / Lerato Maduna)

The ANC is not starting 2022 off on a particularly positive note. From a fire at Parliament to Minister Lindiwe Sisulu undermining President Cyril Ramaphosa with a public back and forth over the Constitution and judiciary. The party holds its elective conference at the end of this year too. To end this week, the party is holding a lekgotla with members of the tripartite alliance. And it seems Cosatu leader Zingiswa Losi chose to absolutely tear into the ANC.

Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi slams ‘unacceptable’ ANC

The situation around Sisulu and her attack on the judiciary and “mentally colonised” black judges was always going to be a too agenda item this weekend. According to reports from inside the ANC lekgotla, Losi warned ANC members that failing to deal with Siulu is “feeding a culture of mediocrity”.

Quotes from the meeting (which continues on Sunday) are pouring out. And they make for quite some reading.

“It is unacceptable and unbecoming for senior leaders and Cabinet members to attack the Constitution. The failure of the ANC to discipline deployees is feeding a culture of mediocrity.”

Cosatu President Zingiswa Losi reportedly told the ANC Lekgotla

But here’s where it REALLY gets strong. Losi went on to slam ANC members for their work as opposition members. She feels that the party has two choices, change completely or lose the 2024 elections.

Make ‘the hard choices’

Losi says Cosatu is encouraging ANC members to make “the hard choices:” and “clean the movement of factionalism and criminals and deal decisively with corruption.”

Unfortunately for Losi and co, she is not the first person to urge the ANC to act. Normally, nothing ends up happening.

One other big ANC thing we found out this week? That despite several reports and A LOT of speeches to ANC branches, Gwede Mantashe actually does not want to be Deputy President. Or so he says…

Mantashe is 67-years-old in June and says he is too old to be Deputy President. He says people are just “imagining something that does not exist”. The most positive claim from the minister? His belief that the next deputy president needs to be someone younger.