Numsa divisions deepen

Infighting has again reared its head in the metal workers union Numsa, with a left faction accusing the union’s general secretary, Silumko Nondwangu, and national office bearers of misusing workers’ money to pay for legal action to purge its opponents.

A Numsa provincial leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Mail & Guardian this week that the succession battle in the African National Congress is exacerbating the divisions in the union.

A dossier drawn up by Nondwangu’s opponents and leaked to the M&G, accuses him of deepening divisions in the union by forcing out those who are perceived to have views that differ from his.

The document, titled Numsa, The Never-Ending Saga: The Struggle Continues, paints a grim picture of internal disharmony.

It lists about 10 senior officials and regional leaders, who, it claims, have been dismissed in recent years for taking stands that differed from those of Nondwangu and office bearers.

It also claims the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration has ordered the union to reinstate those officials who were dismissed.

The sacked officials include: Bheki Hlatshwayo, regional secretary of the Wits central region; benefits coordinator Paul Biyase; national sector coordinator in organisational and collective bargaining Osborne Galeni; Western Transvaal regional secretary Simon Tladi; Ekurhuleni regional education officer Merriman Madikane; and national education officer Dinga Sikwebu.

The authors of the document claim the national leadership, led by Nondwangu, dismissed the officials ‘unilaterally”, saying this violates Numsa’s constitution.

Political divisions have plagued Numsa since 2000 after Nondwangu, who is seen to be close to Luthuli House and ANC leader Thabo Mbeki, was elected as Numsa’s general secretary.

The tensions played themselves out during the union’s seventh national congress as leaders battled for top positions. Despite objections from some members, Nondwangu was re-elected general secretary with the backing of the Eastern Cape, Ekurhuleni, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Wits regions.

Leaders from the Western Cape, Hlanganani, Western Transvaal, Sedibeng and Mpumalanga regions sought to block his election.

Since the congress, political divisions have continued to plague the union, with left factions claiming that the leadership is waging a campaign to purge those who stood against it.

‘The trend just continues, where the [national office bearers] jump into any region without consulting the elected regional leadership,” the document states. ‘[The] Numsa staff disciplinary procedure is ignored and undermined.

‘Looking at this conduct of the national office bearers it is clear that the very laws that must protect workers are used by the very union who fought it [sic] to isolate and destroy its own staff members.”

The main tactic, it claims, is to remove regional leaders from their positions. ‘Various tricks are used to achieve this sinister objective.

‘The tactic is direct removal, and if you can’t discredit them [then] pit locals against regional office-bearers and instigate members against controversial shop stewards.”

In his secretariat report in 2005, Nondwangu described the revolt against the national office bearers as an attempt by the leftist bloc to topple the current leadership.

‘In the aftermath of the seventh national congress, individual leaders met without the knowledge of their regions to plot a campaign of destabilisation against the decisions of the congress, to plot for a permanent crisis in Numsa, which will lead to them being elected as the new national office bearers,” he said.

‘This entails an ascending to power through a deliberate crisis and false pretences.”

Numsa president Mtutuzeli Tom rejected claims of division in the union. ‘No union can survive if there are divisions … We discuss everything, but our responsibility as leaders is to ensure that we implement decisions taken by proper structures. This cannot be seen as office bearers acting outside of their mandate.”

Tom defended Nondwangu against allegations that he was misusing Numsa funds to pay legal costs. ‘The general secretary does not run around with a cheque book — the finances are controlled by a committee appointed by the union and our books are audited by a credible financial firm.

‘If the general secretary was misusing the unions funds, the auditors would have exposed this.”

Tom said officials had been charged because of misconduct, not because they held a different view from that of the office bearers.