Zwelinzima Vavi (born 20 December 1962[1][2]) is the General Secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU).
He is the former general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and vice-chairperson of the Millennium Labour Council.
He addressed the 27 June 2002 XIV International AIDS Conference, where he pushed mass education and prevention campaigns.
[6] As general secretary he has expressed disappointment with political progress in Zimbabwe, blaming mismanagement by government, an ill-conceived structural adjustment programme, and factors beyond its control like sanctions against neighbouring South Africa during apartheid years.
He led two fact-finding missions, in October 2004 and February 2005, to assess conditions for a fair poll during the planned Zimbabwe parliamentary elections of 2005.
He took particular issue with the Public Investment Corporation's Telkom share purchase, involving former communications director-general Andile Ngcaba and the former head of the presidency Smuts Ngonyama.