/ 29 May 2006

NUM members elect new leadership

Members of the trade union National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) elected a new leadership during the organisation’s twelfth congress on the weekend.

NUM president Senzeni Zokwana was re-elected and the congress elected Frans Baleni as the union’s new general secretary.

The congress bade farewell to its outgoing general secretary, Gwede Mantashe.

Zokwana, who was re-elected unopposed to serve another three-year term, made an appeal to the delegates that greater unity should be sought within the ranks of the organisation, the NUM said.

“What is important is the need to serve our organisation and its members without any bias. Those who brought disrepute to the organisation should be forgiven, engaged and shown appropriate ways of behaving within an organisation. I also ask for forgiveness for the unintended consequences of my statements on Christianity,” said Zokwana.

Other NUM office-bearers elected at the congress included deputy president Crosby Moni, deputy general secretary Oupa Komane, treasurer general Derick Elbrecht, chairperson of education Helen Diatile, secretary of education Zwelitsha Tantsa, chairperson of health and safety Peter Bailey and secretary of health and safety Eric Gcilitshana.

The NUM congress passed a number of resolutions including the marking of the sixtieth anniversary of the 1946 strike by the African Mineworkers’ Union in the week of August 12, as well as the development of a plan on how to support the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union strike, including financial contributions.

Other resolutions included that the union keep the TEBA Bank as a workers’ asset and not privatise it, to prioritise the issue of compensation and convene a compensation summit, to develop a code of practice to deal with corruption, to root out tribalism and factionalism and for the National Executive Committee to develop a discussion document on the tripartite alliance.

Another resolution was that the NUM would engage mining employers on the re-opening of shafts in order to create employment. — I-Net Bridge