Numsa general secretary, Irvin Jim, claims there has been a media campaign aimed at bringing him down.
Amid the war of words that has stalked the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa’s (Numsa’s) congress, the union’s general secretary, Irvin Jim, claims there has been a media campaign aimed at bringing him down.
On Tuesday, before he had made any public statement about the congress being interdicted — reportedly causing some bewildered delegates to arrive at the Cape Town venue without any direction from the union’s leaders — Jim issued a lengthy statement targeting amaBhungane journalist Micah Reddy.
Jim was re-elected unopposed on Wednesday evening after Numsa chose to go ahead with the union’s 11th congress despite it being interdicted by the labour court.
On Thursday, the court dismissed Numsa’s application for leave to appeal the interdict, opening the union’s leaders up to a contempt order.
Jim accused Reddy of aiding a systematic smear campaign against him. “This campaign is directly linked to an attempt at a hostile takeover of the union, organised by some NGOs and their networks. As a union, we welcome meaningful and critical engagement. But we cannot continue to remain silent as a group of unelected individuals slander and attack the decisions of our union of more than 350 000 workers,” he said.
He alleges that NGOs intend to capture the union and have “weaponised” media outlets to do so. Jim also makes reference to left-wing publication Amandla Magazine, which is affiliated to the Cape Town-based Alternative Information & Development Centre, as well as not-for-profit media outfit GroundUp.
In his references to GroundUp Jim concedes the publication “has often been an important asset for the working class” but has disappointed by publishing “the first of a series of misleading articles on 3Sixty Life”.
3Sixty Life is a life insurance company owned by the National Manufacturing Workers Investment Trust. GroundUp was the first to report on the 3Sixty Life saga and Jim’s alleged gains. AmaBhungane has also covered Numsa’s alleged capture by the Numsa Investment Company, which is owned by the trust, and the resulting internal rifts.
‘Pure deflection’
Khandani Msibi, who is said to be Jim’s close ally, is the chairperson of 3Sixty Life. Numsa markets 3Sixty’s products to its members.
A 2020 investigation by Deloitte uncovered that 3Sixty Life had made payments that benefitted Numsa leaders, including Jim. The operating expenses in the company’s 2018 audited financial statements included R40 430 for Jim’s birthday party and R15 578 for a laptop for his daughter. Jim said the birthday celebration was a surprise.
In response to Jim’s allegations, GroundUp deputy editor Barbara October said: “We stand by our reporting and have not been alerted to any errors in our articles.
“GroundUp’s reporting on Numsa and 3Sixty Life was almost entirely based on court records and all claims in the articles were supported by evidence. If the union believed that our reporting was not based on fact or was unfair, it had the opportunity to lodge a complaint with the press ombudsman months ago.”
As for the claim that GroundUp has been “weaponised”, October said: “We are independent and our editors support the idea of democratically elected union leadership.”
Reddy also rebuffed Jim’s claim. “It’s pure deflection from a union boss who is facing growing pressure from within and [is] embroiled in multiple controversies, from the alleged abuse of the union investment company funds to increasing authoritarianism,” he said.
“Instead of transparency and accountability to the workers and the wider public, Jim and those around them have closed ranks and tried to shut themselves off from any scrutiny. We see this time and again when the powerful feel exposed, isolated and threatened. Jim’s rants offer little of substance, but suggest a great deal about the current leadership’s paranoia and detachment from ordinary members.”
Tiptoeing in the shadows
It is not the first time Jim has alleged that amaBhungane and GroundUp are out to get him.
In his 11th congress report, Jim claims that both publications have been used by “those who want to undermine the democratic, worker-controlled character of our union”.
“Instead of openly stating their positions in the union and participating in our tradition of robust, democratic debate, lunatics who tiptoe in the shadows and self-declared shepherds of the working class — like the now infamous Micah Reddy — have resorted to these desperate and divisive measures,” the report says.
“Their dirty campaign of slanderous propaganda against the democratically elected leadership of Numsa (particularly the Numsa general secretary) seeks to politically liquidate and ultimately unseat those who are daily serving the working class in general and Numsa members in particular.”
Jim goes on to draw a link between amaBhungane and Zwelinzima Vavi, the secretary general of the South African Federation of Trade Unions, suggesting both rely on “hearsay, gossip and innuendo”.
Vavi, the report states, “proceeds with a politics of innuendo which strangely have striking similarities with the journalist in amaBhungane which have made it their duty to liquidate Numsa leadership in amaBhungane and GroundUp”.
This week, amaBhungane published a detailed investigation into allegations that Numsa became the centre of tech billionaire Neville “Roy” Singham’s network of media, think-tanks, unions and political parties in South Africa.
Singham’s name has recently come up in the New Frame saga. When the left-leaning news site’s sudden closure was announced, the reason given was that its single donor had withdrawn his support.
That donor was Singham, who New Frame’s editor-in-chief, Richard Pithouse, euphemistically confirmed was the source of the publication’s funding. “Roy Singham has never made a donation to New Frame. He has, though, supported foundations from which New Frame has received funding,” Pithouse said.
Singham was also mentioned in a statement by a Western Cape branch of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP). The SRWP’s Shaun Magmoed branch suggests it is Jim who is doing the bidding of certain NGOs funded by Singham.
“Numsa is in danger of being captured by international capitalist forces through a billionaire funder and his NGOs,” it reads, adding that Singham is associated with a number of entities that still fund major parts of Numsa’s work.
Campaign: The metalworkers union congress has gone ahead, electing Irvin Jim (below) as general secretary, despite it being interdicted on Tuesday and Numsa’s appeal being dismissed on Thursday. (OJ Koloti/ Gallo Images)
What scandal?
The statement claims that Singham is also the main funder of the SRWP through Joburg-based NGO Pan Africa Today, although the party’s spokesperson, Vuyolwethu Toli, denied this. “We do, however, work with PAT [Pan Africa Today] on educational programmes which have been very beneficial to the membership of SRWP,” Toli added.
At the time of writing, Numsa had not responded to the Mail & Guardian’s questions about the union’s alleged ties to Singham. Vavi said he would not comment about allegations that Singham has funded Numsa.
In response to the M&G’s questions about Singham’s funding, Pan Africa Today’s executive director, Jonis Ghedi Alasow, said the organisation has a broad fundraising strategy.
Alasow questioned the M&G’s agenda, stating: “Africa, its peoples, and their popular organisations have historically been confronted by pressure to prop up the interests and agendas of imperialist superpowers; we fear that your questions inadvertently fall into a similar trap of overlooking the stories, interpretations and objectives outlined by popular organisations on our continent.”
The SRWP statement goes on to allege that Jim has promoted an agenda advanced by other organisations supported by Singham, including New York-based working class “movement incubator” the People’s Forum, leftist research institute Tricontinental and the New Frame.
After New Frame closed, Pithouse also fielded claims that the publication was sympathetic to Singham’s alleged agenda. Pithouse publicly denied that there was editorial interference done on Singham’s behalf.
The People’s Forum and Tricontinental have also publicly rebuffed allegations that there has been anything untoward about Singham’s funding.
In response to questions, the Tricontinental’s founder, Vijay Prashad, directed the M&G to an article in the left-wing online magazine CounterPunch, in which he confirms Singham’s funding was the original source of the research institute’s endowment. “Roy’s generosity to progressive causes has never been a secret,” Prashad writes.
“What exactly is the scandal? Is there something untoward about friends supporting each other? Is there something nefarious about people who share ethical and political commitments working together?”
2 August 2022: A previous version of this article suggested that the Numsa congress was in defiance of the interdict and, therefore, invalid. However, the court is still to determine this. The labour court will hear arguments on this matter again on Friday, 5 August.
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