eNCA writes that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is desperate to prove that it has not been ‘captured’ by the controversial Gupta family.  

General Secretary (GS) David Sipunzi has admitted that his failed 2012 campaign for office was funded by a Gupta mining company, Shiva Uranium.  And the union has confirmed that under his leadership it received R1.5-million in sponsorship from the Gupta-owned Oakbay Resources for a union conference held earlier this year.  But Sipunzi says it wasn't he who received direct support from the Gupta family in 2012, but Joseph Montisetsi, the then Matlosana regional secretary, who was contesting the position of union president.  Regarding his successful 2015 election campaign, Sipunzi is emphatic that his grouping received no funding whatsoever.  After his election as GS, Sipunzi has come into contact with Gupta representatives, as detailed in this report.  But Sipunzi says there is nothing special about Gupta entities, or Eskom with which they have had dealings, and when necessary these entities would be confronted by the union as it does with other employers.

• Read this report in full at eNCA

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