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The leadership of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the country’s biggest labor federation and an ally of the ruling party, voted to expel General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, a person familiar with the situation said.

Vavi, who has led Cosatu for 16 years, has fought with its leaders over the decision to remove the country’s largest labor union, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, from the federation. Numsa’s dispute with Cosatu was caused by its refusal to support the ruling African National Congress in elections last year, citing policy differences.

In addition to weakening labor union support for the ANC, the expulsion of Vavi, who is allied with Numsa, may increase competition between unions for membership in South Africa. Numsa has said it plans to form its own political movement to challenge the ANC, which it says has not done enough to improve conditions for workers in a country ruled by a white minority until the first all-race elections in 1994.

“We are now looking at a very serious split in Cosatu,” Steven Friedman, director of the Johannesburg-based Centre For The Study of Democracy, said in an interview with the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corp. “It’s now looking inevitable that we will see the formation of a new labor federation that will compete with Cosatu.”

The SABC reported the expulsion earlier.

‘Don’t Mourn’

The decision was taken at a meeting on Monday, the person said, asking not to be identified because an announcement has not been made. The leadership is consulting with lawyers before it hands the letter of expulsion to Vavi, the person said.

“Don’t mourn, organize,” Vavi said on his Twitter account, without giving further details. He didn’t answer a call to his mobile phone or immediately reply to a text message.

A representative of Cosatu declined to comment. The federation will hold a press conference at midday in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Cosatu, which has said it has about 2 million members, was formed in 1985 and supported the struggle against apartheid. Some of its former leaders have served in ANC governments. It represents state workers as well as industries ranging from mining to transport.

Seven of Cosatu’s 20 affiliates opposed the removal of Numsa.

Independence Questioned

“They don’t want an independent federation,” Numsa General Secretary Irvin Jim said on Johannesburg-based SAfm radio Tuesday. “There was no way they were going to spare Zwelinzima Vavi.”

Tensions within Cosatu erupted when the federation’s leaders suspended Vavi in August 2013 for having an extra-marital affair with an employee he hired and accused him of alleged misconduct related to the procurement of Cosatu’s headquarters. Vavi apologized for the affair, while denying any other wrongdoing. The High Court in Johannesburg overturned his suspension in April last year.

The dissident Cosatu affiliates have vowed to fight for Numsa’s reinstatement and called on the federation’s president, Sdumo Dlamini, to resign.

“This is a huge development in labor relations,” Friedman said. “Cosatu will be weakened and it will no longer be able to take its support for granted.”

(Updates with Numsa’s comment one paragraph below Independence Questioned sub-headline.)