Former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa’s close ally Gift “Ostallos” Siziba on Wednesday reportedly walked out on the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Florence Taruvinga as she was addressing workers at the Worker’s Day Commemorations at Gwanzura Stadium in the capital Harare.
According to ZiFM Stereo, Chamisa was invited to be a speaker, but he did not attend the event and was represented by Siziba.
Reports suggest that Chamisa and his allies are sceptical about the current ZCTU leadership, in particular the president, who is believed to be close to “the system”.
However, Siziba denied claims that they walked out on the ZCTU leadership, saying they did not anticipate that the crowd would follow them on their way out after they had completed their task at the event.
Siziba said they had to leave Gwanzura early as they had other commitments elsewhere.
In July 2023, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC) accused ZCTU of being captured by the State following the suspension of Obert Masaraure, the president of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ).
In a statement, CiZC said the State has captured a small clique in the ZCTU leadership as part of the post-coup government’s project to establish a one-party dictatorship.
That same month, ZCTU affiliates accused ZCTU leaders of misleading the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at a meeting in Switzerland over Zimbabwe’s bad human rights record.
They reportedly informed ILO that Zimbabwe no longer had a bad human rights record, resulting in Zimbabwe being struck off the list of 24 countries with a terrible human rights and labour injustice record.
During the trip to Geneva last month, Taruvinga, and ZCTU secretary-general Japhet Moyo flew out of Zimbabwe together with the government delegation led by Labour Minister Paul Mavima for the ILO meeting.
