ohannesburg - The recently elected leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers has come under fire at the opening of the SACP special national congress on Wednesday morning.

SACP national chairman Senzeni Zokwana has described the leadership as reckless, and accused them of trying to rewrite history

Zokwana, who was until last year the president of NUM, was seemingly referring to statements by the new general secretary of NUM, David Sipunzi.

Shortly after his election to replace Frans Baleni, Sipunzi expressed support for the return of the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) into Cosatu.

This was a controversial statement as Numsa's expulsion enjoys wide support across the SACP and among many unions in Cosatu.

“I have listened to the new NUM leadership, its secretary. He is reckless, he wants to rewrite history.

“We must defeat that. Leaders don't write history as they are sent to the throne, they are guided by principles of the organisation,” said Zokwana.

Zokwana also had harsh words for former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, telling delegates to forget about him as a comrade.

Zokwana also took a swipe at the Economic Freedom Fighters, saying the opposition party was opportunistically using the plight of the families of slain Marikana mineworkers to entrench hatred for the ANC.

His opening address was dominated by swipes at Numsa, Vavi and those he said the alliance had to be defended from.

“Anybody who believes that Vavi is a comrade is mistaken, he is not. He left us long ago, he is no longer part of us,” he said.

The Star