I won’t keep mum – Vavi

2012-09-03 16:45 Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi. Picture: Sapa Galleries · User Galleries · News in Pictures Send us your pictures · Send us your stories Related Links Elect strong leaders – Vavi Vavi says Cosatu will not be weakened ANC risks losing favour – Vavi Upbeat Vavi says it’s an open contest Zuma could be kicked out – Gumede Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has vowed to speak out about the wrongs in society in the run-up to the ANC’s elective conference in December. “What I will not do is agree to be blackmailed and to keep quiet when things are going so wrong in society,” he said in Johannesburg today. Addressing Gauteng shop stewards, he said he could not stay silent as some seemed to expect. “I will not keep quiet. Sorry, if you want me to keep quiet, go and find another person ... while Rome is burning.” He said the ANC’s national conference in Mangaung in December offered two choices. The first involved factions so intent on fighting for positions in the leadership battle that they neglected their constituents. “The movement will be far too divided to fight for a better life for all,” Vavi said. The second option was to deliver to the people. “We must do everything we have promised our people ... deliver, deliver a better life, deliver, practice what you preach. “Don’t come to conferences and promise the masses the heaven and the earth, and do nothing thereafter. Go and unite the organisation.” The Congress of SA Trade Unions holds its national congress in two weeks’ time. - SAPA - Comments by Sonny - Lets hope Zwelinzima Vavi sings a better tune than Trevor Manuel when it comes to facts and figures. Nobody should then see Vavi as a whistle blower but rather a concerned citizen. The road to Mangaung will be full of nails. Or was that potholes?