‘We will not sit at the same table’: SAFTU rejects SACP’s ‘Conference of the Left’

Labour federation says it will not attend SACP gathering in Boksburg

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has announced it will not attend the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) planned Conference of the Left, accusing the party of shielding government policies that have, in Saftu’s view, entrenched austerity and harmed working-class interests.

Who, what, where and when

The SACP has billed the meeting as a broad leftist gathering for political parties, NGOs, community organisations, think-tanks and individuals. The conference is scheduled for 29–31 May in Boksburg.

Saftu’s rejection

According to Citizen, Saftu’s political and ideological commission which includes presidents and general secretaries of affiliated unions and provincial representatives resolved the federation would not honour the invitation. Saftu accused the SACP of acting as a political shield and junior partner to successive ANC-led governments that implemented what Saftu described as neoliberalism, austerity, privatisation and other measures hostile to workers.

“For more than 30 years, the SACP has acted as a political shield and junior partner to successive ANC-led governments that implemented neoliberalism, austerity, privatisation, labour market attacks and anti-working-class policies,”

Saftu also objected to the presence of organisations it said contradicted the conference’s stated leftist aims. According to Citizen, Saftu raised sharp objections to the inclusion of Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party and other groups, saying their participation undermined values such as nonracialism and democratic accountability.

“The normalisation of corruption, ethnic chauvinism, xenophobia and reactionary populism cannot be disguised as radical politics or working-class militancy,”

Saftu further criticised the decision to invite chambers of commerce and business formations, saying:

“Capital and labour do not share the same class interests. We will not sit at the same table with right-wing forces, champions of neoliberalism, austerity, privatisation, corruption, xenophobia, ethnic chauvinism, patriarchy, misogyny and narrow nationalism in order to craft a programme allegedly aimed at liberating the working class from a crisis created precisely by these forces.”

SACP response

The SACP defended the conference as an effort to build coordination and unity among leftist and working-class formations. It said the gathering was not intended to form a new political party or enforce ideological uniformity but to promote political education and organised struggle.

“[The conference is] the pinnacle of varied efforts of the forces of the left to realise positive outcomes from their diverse and sustained struggles over time.”

Background on Saftu

According to Citizen, Saftu was established by veteran trade unionist Zwelinzima Vavi and leaders from unions that broke away from Cosatu, including the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the Food and Allied Workers Union. The federation formed in opposition to Cosatu’s continued alliance with the ANC and pledged at its founding congress to remain independent of party politics while pursuing socialist-orientated policies and defending workers’ rights.

What this means

Saftu’s refusal to attend highlights fractures within South Africa’s left and between labour and party formations. The federation’s objections centre on who is invited to define left politics and whether forums that include political and business groupings can legitimately claim to represent working-class interests.