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The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) received a clean bill of health from the Registrar of Labour Relations on Friday. FEDUSA facilitated meetings between its affiliated trade unions and the Registrar to discuss -outstanding documents and follow-ups on amendments required.

Mr Johan Crouse, the Registrar of Labour Relations had extended meeting requests to all three trade union federation in South Africa in this month, and FEDUSA arranged for the matter to be dealt with at its head office in Roodepoort. FEDUSA invited its unions to have one-on-one meetings with the Registrar to iron out all administrative queries, and the Registrar spent Friday morning meeting with union representatives.

“We are very pleased that all our unions are in compliance with the Labour Relations Act,” said FEDUSA General Secretary Dennis George. “Johan [Crouse – the Registrar] had fruitful interactions with our unions and he is pleased that all outstanding matters were addressed. We therefore continue our proud history of compliance and administrative discipline,” he added.

There were various reports in the media on the possible deregistration of trade unions following the deregistration of the COSATU-affiliated Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) earlier this month. This led to rife speculation and infighting between a number of trade unions, but FEDUSA was able to deal with the matter in a sensitive though effective fashion.

“We have great respect for the Department of Labour and especially the Registrar with whom we have built up a relationship of mutual trust over the years”, added George. “We gather that once again there have been attempts towards political interference with the Department’s administration, and we condemn this in the strongest terms. We believe that the office of the Registrar should be strengthened through capacity, authority and protection from political tactics. We believe there is a great need to increase the powers of the Registrar and give clearer guidelines in terms of timeframes and procedures to be followed. Also, we believe that there is a need to employ more financial experts in the office to deal with the often complex queries that arise,” George concluded.