The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Friday affirmed its support for the current African National Congress (ANC) leadership.

"Cosatu still stands firm in support of the collective leadership that was elected at the Polokwane conference of the ANC," Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini said at a Gauteng shop stewards' council in Johannesburg.

Dlamini said that the ANC's upcoming national general council should not be about leadership contests. Its task was rather to review the work done by the ruling alliance and decide how to proceed.

"We are saying that the NGC is not about leadership. We are going to this NGC with our eyes very clear on what are the tasks."

Dlamini, however, warned that it expected ANC leaders to implement decisions taken at the ANC's national conference in Polokwane.

President Jacob Zuma, whom Cosatu helped propel to power, had largely been seen to have fallen out of the federation's favour owing to a range of issues including economic policy and, most recently, the public sector strike.

"The correct way to look at this NGC is to say what is the programme going forward."

Speaking at a packed Wembley Indoor Stadium, Dlamini again warned of the dangers of "tenderpreneurship" and fears that the country would descend into a "predatory State".

He said that those who claimed to be able to influence the choice of people for powerful positions were creating a situation where leaders feared to speak out, because they were worried about their careers.

The ANC NGC kicks off in Durban next week. It is a mid-term review conference expected to tackle policy issues and assess the progress of the ruling alliance since it last met in Polokwane in 2007.

South African Communist Party central committee member Crosby Moni said that the NGC's task was to "rebuild the ANC".

"This is an absolute necessity if the ANC is to once more provide leadership to the alliance collective and to the broad range of democratic forces," he said.

He said that "one potentially destructive" issue that could come up at the NGC was whether the ANC or the alliance was the strategic centre of power. Cosatu had long argued for the alliance to assume this role, but ANC leaders repeatedly insisted it be the ruling party.

Moni lashed the media for attempting to turn the NGC into a "dress rehearsal" for the ANC's 2012 elective conference, accusing it of fuelling factionalism and divisions.

"There is nothing surprising about this. They [the media] have always tried to factionalise our movement in order to undermine the democratic power of the majority in our country," he charged.

The media was being "abetted" by a "new tendency" that turned politics into "wheeling and dealing, deployment" and the "buying of favours".

"The dysfunctionality that is taking root is in the pursuit of political positions solely for purposes of self-enrichment."

He warned against those who viewed politics as a means of "capturing the throne" and "from there bossing everyone around", and against those for whom politics was about "dispensing tenders from above".

This group relished media attention and confirmed the media's stereotypes about the movement.

While a media appeals tribunal, located in Parliament, was needed, Moni said that it should be made up of independent persons to ensure that it was not biased toward the ANC.

On the recent public servants' strike Dlamini said that the federation's leaders would never "sell out" its workers. Some Cosatu affiliates had accused the organisation of betraying its members.

Cosatu was also criticised by the ANC, who said that it should not have been involved directly in wage negotiations.

"The leadership of Cosatu will never sell you out. There's no such thing as the leadership decides. The decision [on wage settlements] is yours," Dlamini said.

The shop stewards' council was aimed mainly at preparing for Cosatu's upcoming 25th anniversary celebrations, to take place in Johannesburg in December.