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Cosatu to meet with Zimbabwe labour
Mail & Guardian Online
October 26, 2004

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe will meet that country's labour movement on Tuesday, Cosatu said.

Spokesperson Patrick Craven said the eight-member team -- led by Cosatu deputy president Violet Seboni and representing all affiliated trade unions -- landed in Harare at 9pm on Monday.

They were met at the airport by Zimbabwe officials who sought an undertaking from them not to meet certain organisations and individuals. The Cosatu party refused to make such an undertaking, but was nevertheless allowed into Zimbabwe.

Craven said the mission will meet with Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Wellington Chibebe and his deputy, Collen Gwiyo, during the day. It will then visit ZCTU affiliates.

The week-long mission is taking place according to Cosatu's congress resolutions. It aims to get "an accurate picture of the situation in the country" and make a contribution to resolving some of the problems facing Zimbabwe, especially its trade unions.

Cosatu received a letter from the Zimbabwe Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare last week, declaring the mission is "not acceptable".

It stated that some of the civic society organisations which Cosatu is meet are "critical about the government of Zimbabwe ... and indeed most of these are quasi-oppositional political organisations".

The letter said the mission is "predicated in the political domain" and that some of the organisations are involved in "the political discourse of Zimbabwe".

The letter listed the Crisis Coalition, the National Constitutional Assembly, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches.

The African National Congress had no immediate comment on the Cosatu mission on Tuesday.

"There is no comment from the ANC," said spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama.

The Democratic Alliance, however, hailed Cosatu's perseverance.

"For once, Cosatu is setting a good example. If only President [Thabo] Mbeki and the ANC would take a leaf out of Cosatu's book and adopt a more robust approach, we might soon see a resolution of the Zimbabwean problem," DA chief Whip Douglas Gibson said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs could not be reached for comment. -- Sapa

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