BusinessLive writes about the secretariat report which will be presented by the general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), David Sipunzi, to the union’s central committee meeting starting on Thursday.  

It shows that the divided organisation has lost more than 132,000 members in the past five years, with the once formidable union now boasting only about 176,000 members in the mining, construction and energy sectors, well short of the plan to grow the union to 220,000 members by the end of 2017.  The report suggested infighting and the slump in the mining industry, among other factors, were to blame.  It also states the rival ‘yellow union’ (i.e. Amcu) has managed to grow so fast because of the NUM’s failures and poor service.  The report warns that the NUM “is not the only trade union in the field and tolerating substandard service delivery is at our own peril."  Moreover, the NUM has struggled to rebuild its unity since its highly contested congress in 2015, during which then general secretary Frans Baleni was replaced by Sipunzi.  The rifts that existed then have apparently failed to close.  Sources say the division is getting worse, fuelled in the main by great mistrust between leaders who supported different factions at the 2015 congress.

• Read this informative report by Theto Mahlakoana in full at BusinessLive
• See too, Mantashe to address NUM central committee meeting, at eNCA

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page