GroundUp reports that CCMA Commissioner Jacques Buitendag ruled on Monday that Vuyo Lufele, the suspended Western Cape regional secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa), must be reinstated.

Lufele was one of several leaders suspended by the union after they raised concerns over the running of 3Sixty Life, a funeral insurance company owned by the union. Lufele challenged his suspension in the CCMA. Numsa did not attend the proceedings which took place earlier this month, but Buitendag said he was satisfied that Numsa had been properly notified of the proceedings, hence he ruled that the matter could proceed in the union’s absence. In his evidence, Lufele said he was placed on precautionary suspension with pay by the general secretary in September 2022, after he raised questions about the National Manufacturing Workers Investment Trust. Lufele argued that his suspension was unfair for several reasons, including that the union’s disciplinary code stipulated that suspension without charges shall not be for a prolonged period. Buitendag agreed with Lufele’s submissions and said that, even if the suspension was valid, which he did not believe it was, there was no evidence of an objective justifiable reason for suspension for more than nine months. “The applicant cannot be suspended indefinitely, and he has clearly been prejudiced … because it affects his career,” Buitendag said, finding the suspension to be invalid and unfair, and ordering Numsa to lift the suspension with effect from 30 June.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp

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