Call to deregister Amcu a ‘political’ ploy

AS THE leader of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) Joseph Mathunjwa, vows to fight back any threats to deregister the union, fellow trade unions have voiced support for the organisation.

This week the Department of Labour published a notice in the Government Gazette indicating its plans to cancel Amcu’s registration.

Registrar of Labour Relations Lehlohonolo Molefe said Amcu’s last national congress had been held only in January 2011 while a special congress had been held in January 2013.

“Since 2015 up to 2018, there have been numerous letters to Amcu requesting the date of their national congress without success,” he said in a statement.

He said Amcu had told the registrar this month that it would hold a national congress in September, but he didn’t think the union would be ready.

Yesterday Mathunjwa warned the union would go to court, saying the union was already seeking legal advice on how to challenge the department should it proceed with deregistering

Amcu.

He labelled the labour department’s decision nothing more than a “political attack” on the union.

“The timing of deregistration of Amcu, you can see clearly there’s a hand of white minority capital because they’re trying to protect their interests if we engage them in economic emancipation of our members in the platinum sector,” said Mathunjwa

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has thrown its weight behind Amcu and has accused the department of interfering with the union’s affairs.

Numsa’s national spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said: “While Numsa understands that all unions need to be compliant with the requirements, we have had experiences where the department should have been expected to act on particular affiliates but, instead, it moves at a snail’s pace.”

The Alternative Information and Development Centre has also voiced its support and highlighted that the department’s bid to deregister Amcu would deprive over 250 000 workers of representation prior to the upcoming platinum sector negotiations.