Sechaba ka’Nkosi
The United Workers’ Union of South Africa (Uwusa), the notorious Inkatha Freedom Party-aligned union founded and funded by the apartheid government during the “total onslaught” of the mid-1980s, will not appear before the truth commission next month when business and labour make their submissions.
Uwusa has apparently turned down an invitation from truth commissioners, despite its bloody history with unions mainly affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Uwusa’s clashes with other unions began as soon it was founded by security forces and senior IFP officials in 1986 to counter Cosatu’s influence in factories and mines.
Uwusa president Alpheus Mtshali said they would have considered an invitation. “It would have depended on the reasons why we would have to appear before the commission. Obviously we would have tabled it before our executive and decided whether it would be appropriate for us to appear or not.”
However, the commission’s Faizel Randera says he personally phoned Uwusa offices in Empangeni to ask them to be part of the hearings. Randera says even at this hour, Uwusa and any other union are still invited to come forward.
“We tried four times to set up a meeting with Uwusa since we understand the sensitivities surrounding their role in the 1980s. However, the office promised to come back to us and up to this far, nothing has happened,” says Randera.
Another conspicuous omission is the newly formed Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) or its predecessor – the Federation of South African Labour Unions. Fedusa officials say while they have nothing to hide about their history, they are interested in whether the commission would be able to uncover the truth about inter-union clashes in the past.