South Africa’s powerful trade union federation COSATU has urged President Thabo Mbeki to reinstate his former deputy Jacob Zuma, saying a corruption case against him should stop because it is politically motivated.
COSATU is officially an ally of the ruling African National Congress in government, and its call marked widening divisions between Mbeki and the labour movement whose support has helped the ANC hold on to power in the 11 years since apartheid ended.
Mbeki fired Zuma in June after a court convicted an adviser of bribing him. Zuma is to be tried for corruption in October.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) made its demand after a top policy meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday, spokesman Patrick Craven told Reuters on Wednesday.
“COSATU called on President Mbeki to reinstate Zuma to his former position. It also called on the president to intervene to stop Zuma’s trial. The intervention would be a political action because the trial itself is a political action,” Craven said.
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