DOING IT FOR LOVE AT R77 000 A MONTH

GENERAL secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Msokoli Frans Baleni says he cannot deny that he is middle class, but that his work is more about his beliefs than making money.

Baleni was elected as general secretary in 2006 and re-elected in 2009 and 2012. He is listed as a board member of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). Baleni joined NUM in 1982 and was elected as a shop steward in 1983 at No 2 shaft Western Holdings Mine. He is a director of the NPO companies Elijah Barayi Memorial Training Centre and Sam Tambani Research Institute.

According to an article in the Mail & Guardian newspaper, Baleni’s salary was revealed to be a basic of R77 000 a month, with his total package being R105 000 a month, or R1.4 million a year. The paper also reported that he earned an annual stipend of R400 000 from the DBSA.

The article said he was one of the highest paid unionists in South Africa. Baleni said the salary in the article was not correct because it included things like petrol, which he had used for work trips. “It created the impression that I have a huge salary, but this isn’t true.” He said that working in a trade union was not about drawing large salaries, but rather a commitment to help others. “I work long hours and hardly spend time with my family. You do it for love. There is no such thing as overtime pay. If I was a chief executive putting in the same hours, I would be earning 15 times what I earn now.” Baleni said unionists accept that not everyone can be paid the same salary, but the gap between executive pay and workers is so enormous that it is abnormal and makes South Africa one of the most unequal societies in the world.

“I met a chief executive, not in the mining sector, who told me he personally felt that he was

Msokoli Frans Baleni: Owns one home in Boksburg which was bought for R1.5 million in 2008 and has a bond of

R1.8m, and Drives a 2010 Toyota Hilux double cab

overpaid. He went to his board and asked to be paid less, but they refused. They said that is the way of the industry.”

Baleni said there had been positive steps in the industry as far as executive pay was concerned; for instance, the chief executive at Anglo Gold Ashanti froze his salary increases. “But then you get chief executives like Chris Griffith. He earns about R17.5m a year. That is huge.”

Baleni said there had been positive changes in the wages of workers in the mining sector. He said in 20 years, the real wage increase in the sector has been 107 percent, while in sectors like manufacturing the increase has only been 28 percent.

“I’m not saying miners earn a decent wage. They don’t,” he said.

The unionist said one of the main arguments has been that the Patterson grading system, which doesn’t look at things like dangers of the job, needs to be changed. He said the Canadian system is much better as it looks at a number of different factors when grading salaries.

Baleni said since January 2012, about 16 000 jobs have been lost in the sector.