Glenda Daniels Voting at this week’s congress of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) revealed a significant ideological rift when the position for general secretary was only narrowly lost by leftwinger Dinga Sikwebu. Sikwebu, national education officer at Numsa, lost to Eastern Cape regional secretary Silumko Nondwangu by a very small margin (351 votes to 301) at the union’s sixth national congress in Mafikeng. Sikwebu was expelled from the union last month after he allegedly circulated a document in which he criticised the union leadership for the way in which it handled the Volkswagen strike in Uitenhage in February, when 1E200 workers lost their jobs. However, at the bottom of his expulsion, according to some of his colleagues, was the fact that Sikwebu was supported by at least four out of nine regions for the position of general secretary. The move to expel Sikwebu was seen as a witch-hunt to remove him from the union before the congress. He was reinstated, a week before the congress, after he took the matter to arbitration. Colleagues close to Sikwebu recently told the Mail & Guardian that he was a strong opponent of the leadership role the African National Congress was playing in the tripartite alliance.
The ideological rift in the union today stems from dissatisfaction with the ANC’s conservative macroeconomic strategy. Large sections of the membership feel betrayed by the ANC in light of recent amendments to labour laws and job losses due to restructuring of state assets. Nondwangu, on the other hand, is seen to be closer to the ANC.
Even though the vote for the position of general secretary was close and split almost down the middle, in a statement released on Thursday the union said: “Against the prophets of doom who interpret vigorous debate as divisions, Numsa emerges out of this congress determined to reclaim its place at the cutting edge of the South African labour movement.” However, Numsa adds that “as a union we say loud and clear that we remain firm in our rejection of the government’s growth, employment and redistribution strategy. “This position we will take at the upcoming national congress of the Congress of South African Trade Unions in September.”