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Eight Cosatu affiliates have pledged not to participate in the federation's meetings until metal workers union Numsa has been reinstated.
The national office bearers of the eight affiliates made their intentions known in a joint statement on Sunday.
Cosatu expelled Numsa last year over resolutions taken at a 2013 union congress which included a decision not to support the ANC in the general election.
Cosatu has called on Numsa to withdraw those resolutions, which it has refused to do.
