At its CEC meeting
The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has suspended its general secretary Zenzo Mahlangu after he was deported to Zimbabwe and refused entry into South Africa for five years.
Satawu’s central executive committee (CEC) met in Johannesburg this weekend where the decision was taken to investigate Mahlangu’s deportation and suspended him pending an official hearing.
“His suspension results from the trouble he’s been having from [the department of] Home Affairs, which he is illegal person and can’t enter the country for the next five years. Because of that, he’s unable to perform his duties. Therefore he’s suspended pending a hearing, that should happen no later than the 15 of December,” Satawu spokesperson Zanele Sabela told the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday.
Mahlangu was deported by the immigration police in May after the Home Affairs department found that he was an illegal immigrant.
The embattled union leader has lost support within the organisation and has been accused of maladministration. Satawu president Kate Matlou is understood to be driving the campaign to take action against Mahlangu.
At its CEC meeting, Satawu’s deputy Zacharia Mosothoane resigned with immediate effect after Matlou’s opening address, in which she said the union was on a downward spiral and the entire leadership was to blame.
“The self-critique, however, proved too much for… Mosothoane, who unexpectedly tendered his resignation with immediate effect during the CEC and left the meeting. The CEC resolved to accept the resignation on the understanding that he will be held fully accountable should the need arise,” Matlou said in a statement.
Mahlangu’s term of office as general secretary and the decisions he made regarding the union’s finances will now be scrutinised by forensic investigators. The Satawu CEC also resolved to appoint a 14-member task team headed by its former general secretary Randall Howard.
“First on the task team’s agenda will be the ordering of a forensic audit into the union’s finances stretching as far back as 2012 and focussing on Satawu’s investment arm – Bashumi Trust and other investments such as the Nosipho shares to ensure that all those involved in alleged corruption and maladministration of the hard-earned wages of members are brought to book,” the statement continued.
Mahlangu was not immediately available to respond to his suspension.