An 'independent' trade union, co-ordinated by former Cosatu boss Willie Madisha, will be launched this weekend.

"The event on Saturday will be a culmination of extensive consultation with a number of unionists around the country who have recognised the need to establish a movement for workers that is not politically aligned," Madisha said in a statement on Friday.

The meeting on 28 March would draw around 2000 workers, he said, including representation from various sectors such as mining, metal, transport, motor and construction and public sectors like the police, education and health.

Madisha, an ally of former president Thabo Mbeki, was purged from the helm of the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the SA Democratic Teachers' Union after the African National Congress's Polokwane conference.

He is on the list of Congress of the People candidates nominated to represent it in Parliament.

The need for "an independent union" arose after Cosatu members who were allied to the break-away party were "vilified and intimidated".

Workers were also dismayed that their resources were being used to fund ANC campaigns, Madisha said at a press briefing earlier this month.

Madisha said workers approached him to "help them organise" themselves to form a new trade union due to his decade-long experience with Cosatu, South Africa's largest trade union federation and a prong in the ruling alliance.

He said proof of how workers' resources were used for political gain would be shown when the new union launched on Saturday.

Sapa