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BusinessLive reports that the Labour Court in Johannesburg has nullified the mass suspension of dissenting National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) office bearers as well as the placing under administration of the union’s largest region, Mpumalanga, by the central committee.
The ruling by Judge Graham Moshoana on Saturday also interdicted and restrained Numsa from holding its national congress, which was set to start on Monday, until it had complied with the ruling. Moshoana ruled that the moves were “invalid”, “unconstitutional” and “unenforceable in law”. Numsa’s second deputy president and newly elected president of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), Ruth Ntlokotse, and 30 others brought an urgent application against the trade union on 18 July after their suspensions. Ntlokotse indicated in the court documents that on 14 July Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim had told her the union’s central committee had decided to “immediately suspend her membership” pending a disciplinary hearing into her conduct regarding her Saftu presidency. The central committee said Ntlokotse contested the Saftu presidency position against Numsa’s caucus position to support another candidate. The 30 suspended Numsa members from various regions said their suspensions were intended to prevent them from participating in the upcoming congress, thereby barring them from exercising their democratic right. In his ruling, Moshoana said not only were the mass suspensions unconstitutional, the union’s central committee also lacked the authority to place the Mpumalanga regional council under administration. The judge said the court’s ruling did not prevent Numsa from holding its national congress, but the union could only do so in line with its own constitution. Numsa said it was studying the judgment.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive
- Read too, Numsa suspensions 'unconstitutional and invalid', conference interdicted, rules Labour Court, at Fin24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page