The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has rejected President Thabo Mbeki’s proposal to form a commission of inquiry to address conspiracy charges against his former deputy, Jacob Zuma.

Cosatu challenged Mbeki to sell the plan to the African National Congress (ANC), suggesting not even the party would support it.

Yesterday Cosatu became the latest tripartite alliance partner to reject Mbeki’s call for a commission of inquiry.

This was after the South African Communist Party (SACP) turned the president down and called for a broader inquiry into the source of the plot allegations, as well as claims that it and the labour movement were fomenting an ultra-leftist agenda in the alliance.

Cosatu’s stance followed a special all-day meeting of its central executive committee on Wednesday to consider Mbeki’s surprise suggestion. There is as yet no official view from the ANC on the matter.

Cosatu’s challenge to Mbeki to “lobby” the ANC to accept his view suggested that there was no consensus, even among ANC leaders, on an inquiry.

Cosatu president Willie Madisha said: “We don’t want a commission to investigate an individual (Zuma). If there is to be a commission, it must look at the entirety of the problems in the alliance.”

Cosatu bigwigs also took a swipe at Mbeki for his handling of the commission suggestion.

Mbeki — who did not attend last week’s alliance crisis meeting — gave his letter to ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe, who read the letter to alliance leaders after discussions on the Zuma fallout had been concluded.

The letter was then published on Mbeki’s ANC Today online column last Friday — taking the alliance leaders by surprise as they had not yet discussed it.

“The alliance meeting achieved a lot. Unfortunately, at the end, when the letter was tabled and then later published, it undermined all the good work that had been done,” said Madisha.

Cosatu stuck to its guns over the controversial resolution by its central committee meeting last week calling on Mbeki to reinstate Zuma as South African deputy president, and order the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to drop charges against him.

The call was not unconstitutional, said the federation’s leaders. Madisha said the constitution placed executive oversight over the national prosecutor’s office.

But Wits law professor David Unterhalter said Cosatu’s interpretation vastly overstated the powers of the justice minister over the NPA.

“The NPA does form part of the executive arm of government, but that does not mean the minister can act to subvert the role given to the NPA to act independently,” he said.

With acknowledgements to Vukani Mde, Karima Brown and the Business Day.