Sunday World reports that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has lifted the suspension of a high-ranking Mpumalanga official implicated in missing union funds.

The NUM national executive committee (NEC) lifted the suspension at its recent meeting in Kempton Park.   The NUM Highveld regional official was put on ice after more than R11-million in worker subscriptions allegedly went unaccounted for. Mining company Seriti Coal mistakenly deposited the funds into the account of the union’s Highveld agency instead of the NUM’s national subscription account. The agency account is used to fund the training of members only, however, sources claimed that the money was used instead to pay bogus service providers. According to a source, the NEC further resolved to disband the team it had appointed to investigate the missing millions. Instead, it will appoint a private company to handle the probe. “Appointing a service provider to probe these unaccounted-for funds would result in a misuse of funds because this is going to cost the organisation,” said the source. Apparently, the investigation team was disbanded after it produced a damning preliminary report. Sunday World reported last week that the R11.2-million was allegedly paid into a bank account controlled by Highveld leadership. The scandal resulted in a fallout among NUM officials, with two volunteering to expose how the implicated regional leaders used the funds. Meanwhile, the NUM’s elective conference is scheduled for 24 and 25 June.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mpho Sibanyoni at Sunday World

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