November 24, 2015.
For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.
Making headlines:

President Jacob Zuma calls for Cosatu to unite.

Burundi suspends ten civil society groups as crisis deepens.

And, Cosatu president slams detractors.

 

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (or Cosatu) must emerge more united from its twelfth national congress, President Jacob Zuma said  yesterday.

Zuma told delegates in Midrand  that they can not achieve the genuine unity of the alliance if they do not  comprehend where it comes from.

Zuma said the alliance remained relevant today and the organisations needed each other because the onslaught against the working class was big.

“The ANC remains biased to the workers. The ANC fought to liberate this country,” Zuma said.

He called on workers to separate union work from political work for the African National Congress.

 

Burundi's interior minister suspended ten civil society groups, accusing them of fuelling widespread violence in recent months, a senior official said today.

The turmoil in the East African nation was sparked by a decision by President Pierre Nkurunziza to seek a third term in a disputed July vote.

Terence Ntahiraja, the permanent secretary in the interior ministry, told a news agency that the 10 groups, most of them led by prominent civil rights defenders who fled into exile, were found to have been supporting troublemakers.

The group include Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons, led by Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, who survived an assassination attempt in August.

Various vigilante units have been formed, and more than 200 people have been killed in violence since April.

 

Congress of South African Trade Unions (or Cosatu) president Sdumo Dlamini slammed those who “had written the trade union federation’s obituary” in the run up to the federation’s elective congress and its thirtieth anniversary yesterday.

Dlamini said books had been written by former South African Communist Party members who said Cosatu was in crisis. He urged the delegates not to buy the book.

He was referring to a book released ahead of the congress, titled Cosatu in Crisis: The Fragmentation of an African Trade Federation.

The foreword was written by former Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi.

Vavi was axed from Cosatu for misconduct earlier this year.

Also making headlines:

Liberated Metalworkers Union of South Africa general secretary Cedric Gina said the union was growing despite lacking resources.

And, Congress of South African Trade Unions president Sdumo Dlamini said the affiliates needed to stand together to fight retrenchment.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today