SACP, Cosatu To Discuss May Day Booing And SA's Other Problems In Weekend Meetings

The imbizo will be attended by alliance partners and officials committed to “solving the root causes of the problems facing the South African society".
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The state of the country's political atmosphere is one of the topics on the cards for special meetings being held by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) over the next few days.

The alliance, which has been ruptured by factions within the ANC, has come under scrutiny for being unstable -- with both SACP and Cosatu members previously calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down.

These meetings are set to act as a means of finding a way forward.

The South African Communist Party will be hosting a National Imbizo on Friday and Saturday for delegates to share their perspectives on what constitutes South Africa's "problem statement" and the way forward.

The imbizo will be attended by alliance partners and officials committed to "solving the root causes of the problems facing the South African society, overcoming both its secondary and primary challenges and developing the national democracy to its full potential."

"The national imbizo will ... encompass the immediate, medium- and long-term strategic tasks behind which South Africa could consolidate the building of national unity and ensure the success of our national democratic transformation," the SACP said.

On Monday, the Congress of South African Trade Unions will convene a "Special Central Executive Committee" to finalise the preparations for their upcoming Central Committee meeting. At the meeting, the federation will also do an assessment of the May Day celebrations and prepare for a possible Alliance Political Council (APC) meeting.

Speaking to the HuffPost SA, Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the APC meeting will discuss the state of the alliance ahead of the policy conference next month.

"We are going into that meeting to revisit some of the issues we have had and discuss how to deal with new worrying issues affecting the ANC. We are a federation, not a military organisation, we must our views," Pamla said.

"We will assess May Day and other events."

Pamla was referring to Worker's Day celebrations on the public holiday earlier this month where members heckled Zuma and his affiliates speaking at rallies across the country.