12:30 – Vavi: The door for engagement has now been shut. Dismissing me if airily and illegally without a mandate from members. (Tweet by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:30

BREAKING NEWS: Expelled Cosatu leader Zwelinzima Vavi is considering hauling the federation’s remaining leaders to court.

— The Daily Dispatch (@Dispatch_DD) April 1, 2015

12:29 – Vavi: Do I have money to keep running up and down in courts? We are dealing with people who’ve decided to prosecute a political opponent. (Tweet by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:29 – Vavi: I know when a decision is unfair. You can’t dismiss someone without an independent hearing. You’re the judge & prosecutor. It’s wrong. (Tweet by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:29 – Vavi: That audit report is exceedingly damaging. The Cosatu CEC is populated by a faction which has Byrd for my blood since 2012. (Tweet by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:28 – Vavi: It’s a deliberate political game to hollow out organs of people’s power & institutions which are supposed to hold leaders to account. (Tweet by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:28 – Vavi: We will special NEC meetings and meet as many unions, including Cosatu unions, to unfold a Programme of mass mobilisation. (Tweet by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:27 – Vavi: While workers thought they were fighting for the soul of the ANC, a hidden agenda was being hatched by forces hostile to workers. (Tweet by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:27 – Vavi says he and the 7 unions will not attend the Cosatu congress if Numsa is not in attendance (tweet by Genevieve Quintal).

12:27 – Vavi: “The priority now is not to get drawn into tit-for-tat arguments and exchanging insults”. (Tweet by Genevieve Quinta)

12:26 – Vavi: It is a crisis that this country is not reading. The information is all there. Blow by blow.

12:26 – Vavi: We are a nation of headlines. We are not a reading nation.

12:26 – Vavi says the #Cosatu CEC has been “baying for my blood since 2012” – Genevieve Quintal

12:25

#Vavi Cosatu’s spokesperson Patrick Craven controlling the Vavi Presser… pic.twitter.com/xBG1ytyWvY

— Karin Labuschagne (@KarinLaB) April 1, 2015

12:25

Patrick Craven at Vavi’s presser. I think he was the only one who voted against his expulsion at the Special CEC meeting on Monday.

— Black Panther (@De_Imperial) April 1, 2015

12:25

So do I still call Patric Craven for interviews or he’s effectively a free agent? Tjo. The newsroom has never been so interesting

— Nomfundo Sibanyoni (@MilaMfundo) April 1, 2015

12:24 – Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven has quit and has now joined Vavi’s camp.

12:23 – Vavi: We are retain the reason why the other unions don’t want a congress is because they fear members will revolt in the ballot. (Tweeted by City Press’s Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:23 – Vavi “I have no doubt that the dismissal is unfair and illegal> I have been dismissed without a hearing conducted by an independent chair” (Tweeted by News24’s Genevieve Quintal)

12:22 – Vavi: A Cosatu congress will not be attended by unions that called for it because it’s going to be a farce, a betrayal. We won’t attend. (Tweeted by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:22 – Vavi: We are effectively out of Cosatu now, voted out to the exclusion of other unions. Numsa with 365 000 have been booted out. (Tweeted by Rhodes Mbanjwa).

12:21

Vavi adresses the media following his expulsion from #Cosatu pic.twitter.com/oe4PCznPRp

— sabelo ndlangisa (@Bhintsintsi) April 1, 2015

12:21 – Vavi says he is in consultation on whether he should challenge his expulsion from Cosatu.

12:19 – Vavi says the Cosatu CEC knowingly decided to adopt the forensic audit report with all its flaws.

12:19 – Vavi says he objects to to the “unprofessional and unethical” behaviour of forensic auditors SizweNtsalubaGobodo. – News24’s Genevieve Quintal.

12:18 – ‏Vavi: I shall participate fully in this programme of mass mobilization and consultation Cosatu. (Tweet by Sabelo Ndlangisa)

12:18 – Vavi: I’m not a banned person I’m a free man. This is not an apartheid state. Anyone who doesn’t like that can go jump. (Tweeted by SABC’s Vuyo Mvoko)

12:16 – Vavi: We are going to be very busy. This weekend has a full programme to ask the members questions.

12:16 – Vavi: “I remain firmly convinced that I did nothing wrong, let alone break the law, in the execution of my duties as Cosatu GS”

12:15 – Vavi: But the priority now is not to et drawn into tit-for-tat arguments & exchange insults but to direct energy to class struggle. (Tweeted by Rhodes Mbanjwa )

12:15 – Vavi: I remain firmly convinced that I did nothing wrong, let alone break the law in the execution of my duties as GS.

12:14 – Vavi: All the unions listed in his statement will meet soon.

12:14 – Vavi: The working class needs to respond decisively to these challenges. Don’t mourn, exercise.

12:13 – Vavi: I did nothing wrong.

12:13 – Vavi: “These decisions will have a huge impact on the struggle for a strong united workers’federation.”

12:13 – Vavi also condemns the decision to close the door on Numsa’s readmission to Cosatu, the acceptance of Limusa and lack of notice of a SNC.

12:13 – CWU, Numsa, Fawu, Saccawu, Sasawu, Denosa, Safpu supporting Vavi

12:12 – Vavi says he condemns the CEC’s decision to dismiss him, a GS “who was democratically elected by the 2012 national congress”

12:12 – Vavi : We have tried to avoid this scenario at all costs

12:12

We are about to start with the Zwelinzima #Vavi press conference. pic.twitter.com/paXHlB2Q8Q

— Rhodes Mbanjwa (@mbanjwax) April 1, 2015

12:12 – Vavi: This all reflects the drive by predatory elite to exercise control over all areas of society to advance their narrow control. (Tweeted by Rhodes Mbanjwa, City Press)

12:12 – Vavi: This is also behind the disarray at SABC, SAA, SARS, Eskom, Parliament, SAPS, Intelligence, NPA, SAPO using fake intelligence reports. (Tweeted by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:11 – Vavi: Underlying unemployment, crime & corruption is endangering all formations in society incl democratic institutions. (Tweeted by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:11 – Vavi: The decisions to allow LIMUSA union, a shelf union & expel me will have huge impact & it’s a crisis for working class as well. (Tweeted by Rhodes Mbanjwa)

12:10

#Vavi: But those inside and outside of Cosatu have been ruthless to purge any individual that stands in their way.

— Rhodes Mbanjwa (@mbanjwax) April 1, 2015

12:10

#Vavi: I, together with the 7 unions, have been trying for many months to achieve unity and cohesion at Cosatu.

— Rhodes Mbanjwa (@mbanjwax) April 1, 2015

12:10 – Watch the conference live on eNCA: