Stephen Grootes quizzes Patrick Craven at the launch of The Battle For Cosatu: An Insider’s View

by Nicola on Jul 19th, 2016

There were many contentious and interesting discussions at the launch of former Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokesperson Patrick Craven’s book The Battle for Cosatu at Exclusive Books in Rosebank recently.

Stephen Grootes was the suitable choice to interview Craven, as what was clearly visible from the get go was the deep admiration and respect between the two men, despite the fact that they have different worldviews on what the best economic system is.

As Grootes explained, “This is where [Craven] and I differ: I believe in well-regulated capitalism I see capitalism as the only way to get people out of poverty.”

He continued: “Patrick Craven, why am I wrong?”

Craven replied that there has never been a better time in history to show how capitalism has failed.

In the book, Craven writes about the last five tumultuous years of Cosatu, leading up to the expulsion of Numsa and Zwelinzima Vavi.

Grootes asked many other hard-hitting questions, including “What happened to Cosatu?” and “Why did you resign?”, which Craven tackled with honesty and forthrightness.

Specifically of interest was Craven’s political analysis of what is going to happen in the local elections. “Sadly,” he said, “there will be no fundamental shift.”

Jennifer Platt (@Jenniferdplatt) tweeted live from the event:

Patrick Craven launch