Mathunjwa set to retain Amcu post
Joseph Mathunjwa, whose union embarked on a fivemonth work stoppage at Sibanye-Stillwater, looks likely to retain his position as president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) when the organisation elects its new leadership.
Joseph Mathunjwa, whose union embarked on a fivemonth work stoppage at Sibanye-Stillwater, is set to retain his position as president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) when the organisation elects its new leadership this week.
Amcu’s long-awaited conference got under way in Johannesburg on Wednesday and will end on Friday with the election of the new leadership.
In March, labour relations registrar Lehlohonolo Molefe issued a notice of his intention to deregister Amcu, saying the union had violated its own constitution, a move the union described as a political attack aimed at destroying it.
Amcu general secretary Jeff Mphahlele said the union was “targeted” by the labour registrar because it was a progressive and militant trade union and the biggest in the platinum sector.
Molefe charged that Amcu had not held an elective conference for five years and had effectively ceased to function as a “genuine trade union” as envisaged in the Labour Relations Act (LRA).
But on September 1, Molefe ditched plans to deregister the union after a number of written representations from the leadership of the union, the largest in SA’s platinum industry with more than 200,000 members.
In April, after almost five months on strike, Amcu ended its industrial action at SibanyeStillwater where it had been demanding R1,000 annual wage increments for the next three years, while the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Solidarity and the United Association of South Africa (Uasa) accepted an increase of R750 a year for the next three years for the period July 1 2018 to June 30 2021.
Amcu’s strike was viewed as a failure as its leadership went on to sign the 2018 three-year wage deal previously signed with the three other unions.
Amcu rose to prominence for leading the strike that led to the Marikana massacre on August 16 2012.
Thirty-four protesting Lonmin mineworkers were gunned down by police.
Ten people, including police officers, had been killed in the preceding week.
In a media briefing in Boksburg on Wednesday, Amcu head of organisational development Krister Janse van Rensburg said the positions of president, deputy president, national chair for health and safety, national treasurer, and national chair for education, were all uncontested.
The union’s conference was expected to discuss and then take resolutions on issues regarding the economy and industry, environment and safety, and labour market issues and social development.
On Thursday, labour and employment minister Thulas Nxesi is expected to address the conference, followed by a keynote address by Mathunjwa. After lunch on Thursday, the delegates will discuss the organisational and financial reports in a closed session.
On Friday, the last day of the conference, at which Amcu’s constitution will also be reviewed and amended, a new leadership will be elected by voting delegates.