Vavi’s new trade union federation officially registered

The new federation is registered under the name South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) subject to ratification by the launching congress on April 21 to 23 or a change of name, the steering committee of the federation said.

“This is a milestone in the history of the South African trade union movement and paves the way for the birth of a vibrant, independent, democratic, and militant workers’ champion, which will turn the tide against exploitation, mass unemployment, poverty, and inequality and take us forward to the total liberation of the working class,” steering committee convenor Zwelinzima Vavi and acting spokesman Patrick Craven said in a statement.

Vavi, the former general secretary of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu), was expelled from Cosatu in November 2015 for “bringing the trade unions federation into disrepute and dividing it”. 

Craven is the former Cosatu national spokesman who followed Vavi out of Cosatu after his expulsion.