Cosatu in chaos: power struggle results in congress collapse

Cosatu’s congress failed to get off the ground this week, with 1,820 delegates sent home after a bitter leadership fight brought the federation to a standstill.

The congress was adjourned after two days of deadlock over the suspension of Cosatu’s first deputy president, Mike Shingange , by Nehawu on the eve of the gathering. Shingange was suspended on Saturday after defying an instruction from the union not to sign his nomination form, which would have prevented him from contesting for the Cosatu presidency.

According to delegates, Nehawu had decided to back another candidate to replace Zingiswa Losi as president, with Losi now running for the position of general secretary . But Shingange refused to stand down and went ahead with his bid for the presidency. His suspension immediately became the flashpoint at the congress, with delegates demanding that he be allowed to participate despite being suspended by his union.