THE National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) is going to court on Thursday to stop Cosatu (Confederation of South African Trade Unions) from holding an extraordinary meeting later in the week which could result in its expulsion from the federation.
According to union insiders, Numsa will argue that it will not get a fair hearing on Friday when it tries to convince a special sitting of the federation’s central executive committee (CEC) it should not be sanctioned.
The union has said in the past that its opponents, who are in the majority in the CEC, have already made up their minds about its expulsion.
One of them is the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), which said on Monday that there was no other option but to expel the metalworkers.
Nehawu leaders told reporters in Joburg they would only agree to Numsa not being sanctioned if it stopped ‘poaching’ members from other unions, including the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union and the National Union of Mineworkers.
Numsa is fighting to stay in Cosatu after being accused of not abiding by the federation’s constitution and principles.
The union, Cosatu’s largest affiliate, decided in December to expand, which has resulted in it organising in sectors that other unions consider their turf.
The union also demanded that Cosatu should break its alliance with the ANC and SACP and withhold support for the ANC during the municipal elections.
Numsa insists it will not go back on its resolutions and is also investigating the viability of forming a workers’ party to contest future elections.
The union has so far argued that any sanction against it would be unconstitutional for a number of reasons, including that it has not been allowed to make its case to a Cosatu executive.
If the court does not grant Numsa an urgent interdict, it will finally be given an opportunity on Friday to make its case.
Numsa has also threatened court action if the special CEC does not follow the correct procedures.
Nehawu wanted Numsa to be expelled at Cosatu’s special CEC last week, but the meeting held back on voting on the matter, with some unions urging caution around procedure.
Nehawu general secretary Bereng Soke claimed on Monday that Numsa’s ‘disorderly and anarchical actions’ had placed the federation in a position where its long-term survival was at risk.
‘Cosatu is duty-bound by its constitution and the gallant contribution of countless of its leaders and members over the years since its founding to defend itself in the face of a deviant clique of Numsa leaders and officials who are hell-bent on establishing a rival centre to Cosatu itself, on the back of its affiliates,’ he said.
Soke said that while disunity was plaguing Cosatu, the federation had deviated from its strategic framework, and the government was able to adopt anti-worker policies and programmes.
Soke said Cosatu”s long-term survival was at stake and threatened that if Numsa does not explain why it should stay in Cosatu it will be expelled this week.
National Education, Health, and Allied Workers Union president Mzwandile Makwayiba said that other affiliates who subscribed to the Congress of SA Trade Unions’ policy and constitution would support the call for NUMSA to be expelled.
Numsa and the trade union federation have been at loggerheads since Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi was suspended, the union took Cosatu to court over his suspension for having an affair with an employee saying it was politicaly motivated.
Cosatu affiliates have been divided between their support for Vavi and president Sidumo Dlamini.
Nehawu”s first deputy president Mike Shingange said the status quo in Cosatu could not continue.
‘Cosatu is not what it was five years ago, Cosatu is not what it was three years ago. For a very long time we have sat there thinking we can still work something out, but it is quite clear that some people have already taken a decision that in fact they want out of Cosatu.
‘But they don’t just want to go out of Cosatu, they want to go out of a Cosatu having weakened it and almost killing it’. He said painful decisions needed to be made, and Cosatu ‘rebuilt from scratch’.
Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim hit at the attacks on the union and himself personaly saying the fight within Cosatu is not about him but about a revolutionary working-class agenda.
In an interview with journalist Mogomotsi Magome, Jim said he is convinced that the leadership of Cosatu will expel Numsa, but that he is ready for the fight.
‘The previous special CEC revealed a couple of things which were not shocking to Numsa, but they became a reality,’ he said.
‘Two things that some Cosatu affiliates and Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini have been desperate about have been to expel Numsa and to do away with the general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi.
‘You will remember that with Vavi they were successful. They suspended him but we brought him back.
‘We went to court and we won. He is not back at Cosatu because they want him there. It is because we used workers’ money to bring him back,’ said Jim.
‘People want to dismiss Numsa because it has taken a decision that the alliance is not working.
‘In terms of opening up the scope, the bulk of Cosatu affiliates have opened up the scope. There are no holy cows. Why must it be Numsa that is expelled on that basis?
‘They have made up their minds that Numsa must be expelled and that is what they are pursuing.
‘We know they are already forming another union with Cedric Gina, the former Numsa president, and will recruit workers there, saying: “We expelled the leadership that was misleading you, you can still remain in Cosatu with this new union”.
‘Why are they trying to split workers?’ asked Jim. He asserted that: ‘We are not in a struggle to be fired from Cosatu. We are in a struggle to solidify the unity of workers. The federation must continue to be an independent federation that is in the control of the workers, not of individuals.
‘It must champion a revolutionary programme,’ he said.
• The Administrator for Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality (NMMDM), Kumaran Nair, says the municipality is looking at finding a lasting solution to the water shortage problem affecting all communities within its borders.
Nair said the municipality is working on a strategy that will ensure the constant water supply to residents in their taps without any interruption.
This after he led an intervention task team which managed to restore water provision to different parts of NMMDM, particularly the Ramotshere Moiloa Municipality.
The intervention task team was established following the water shortage crisis which resulted in community unrests in Ramotshere Moiloa municipality, a few months ago.
‘There is still much that needs to be done to bring water supply stability in the area. Water tankering has never been a long term solution to water shortage, as it is expensive and it’s not sustainable,’ Nair said.
