The Sunday Independent reports that the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) has defended the dismal performance of its newly formed political party at the general elections last week.
Numsa resolved to form a socialist party in 2013 after abandoning the ANC-led alliance and it set up the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) late last year. The party, led by Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim, secured only 24,439 votes, which was 0.14% of the more than 17.5 million total votes cast in the national ballot. Numsa national spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said while Numsa had given birth to the SRWP, it was not a given that its membership would throw its weight behind it. “Yes, Numsa took the decision that a political party must be formed but that political party still has to win the hearts and minds of Numsa members… The fact of the matter is that we still have to do the work of winning members of Numsa the same way we have to win all other members of the working class,” Hlubi-Majola said. She went on to state that the SRWP had not expected to secure significant voter support as it was new, explaining that the decision to contest was mainly aimed at profiling the party and putting socialism on the map. Political analyst Lukhona Mnguni described the SRWP as what appeared to be a vanity project for Jim and his collective.
- Read more of this The Sunday Independent report by Siviwe Feketha at SA Labour News
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