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BL Premium reports that the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) admitted on Tuesday that it did not “go all out” in campaigning for the ANC before last week’s municipal elections.
The union, which has taken the government to the Constitutional Court for reneging on implementation of a 2018 wage agreement, attributed the poor support it gave to its political ally to budgetary constraints. With more than 280,000 members, Nehawu is the biggest affiliate of union federation Cosatu, which is a key ally of the ANC and has supported the party in every election since 1994. In the build-up to the local government elections on 1 November, Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi assured ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa that the labour federation would wage a “relentless campaign” for the ANC. However, the governing party got just 45.6% of voter support nationally, its worst performance since coming to power in 1994. In a media briefing on Tuesday after Nehawu’s national congress held from 3 to 6 November, newly elected president Mike Shingange said it would be unfair for the union to appear to be shocked by the election results. Asked whether Nehawu had campaigned for the ANC, Shingange said, “Yes, we did. But we did not campaign in a manner that we usually campaign.” Due to budgetary constraints the union did not print T-shirts and pamphlets, or offer its vehicles and officials for campaigning. “We did not do so (campaign as usual)… but we did not stop workers from campaigning. But we were not all out as we would have done [in the past] because we had not the financial capacity to do so.” Shingange indicated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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