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The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) held its bi-monthly National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on 25 – 26 April 2019 at Elijah Barayi Memorial Training Centre in Midrand. Among the issues discussed were the following;
 
1.    Special National Congress
 
The 16th national congress of the NUM held in July 2018 took a decision to convert the 2019 Central Committee meeting into a special national congress. Topping the reasons that influenced the decision to have a special congress before the elective congress was the issue of constitutional amendments which could not be attended to due to time constraints. The NEC agreed that the Special National Congress be held in our KwaZulu-Natal region in an effort to boost the NUM’s visibility in that region. The congress will be held on 4 – 6 September at the Durban ICC.
 
2.    Unbundling of Eskom and the IPPs
 
The NUM still stands firm against the unbundling of Eskom. No logic has been given to us as a stakeholder as to how the unbundling is going to turn around the loss-making entity. The government is still not clear on the possibility of job losses as well as privatisation of Eskom. Although we had a positive engagement with the President of the Republic of South Africa and the Minister of Public Enterprises, it is disturbing to observe how the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Finance are treating everybody’s concern with disdain.
 
On the issue of the IPPs, the NEC agreed that an expert be roped in by the union to assist in looking for alternatives. We also call upon the government not to be only interested in introducing new power generating technology, but also in the reskilling of the current Eskom workers so that they can be absorbed into the envisaged clean energy technology, if indeed it is going to create more jobs as they claim.
 
3.    The AMCU violent strike
 
The NEC welcomes the end to the violent strike by AMCU which has been going on for five months, costing workers millions of rand in lost earnings as well as no less than ten human lives. In the course of this strike, in the Carletonville region alone, four people were killed during the strike, 40 houses were torched, 13 cars were torched, 39 houses were stripped of household belongings that were burnt in the streets, 3 people were injured and one NUM member’s house was burnt in the Eastern Cape.
We expect the law to take its course on whoever might have been involved in criminal activities during this strike. Murderers and arsonists must be arrested and prosecuted without delay.
 
4.    Construction sector mafia
 
The NEC noted the disruptions to construction projects of national importance like the Mthentu road project. In the process of destabilizing these projects, people’s emotions are stirred to oppose the projects either on the basis of “preserving the environment” or “protecting ancestral land”. In certain instances, the disruptions are by people who demand to be given a stake in the project without following due process. Besides holding the nation to ransom, this sort of behaviour has a negative impact on our members who have to be laid off. We appreciate the efforts by SAFCEC to address the situation and their bringing on board all relevant stakeholders. The NUM is fully behind the efforts to end the thuggery that has engulfed the industry.
 
5.    Optimum and Koornfontein BRP process
 
For many months, these two coal mines have been under business rescue. This has turned into being a milking cow for the Business Rescue Practitioners as there seems to be no end in sight for the process. As they make money on a monthly basis, ordinary workers have been left without earnings for months. We believe that the government can effectively intervene in saving these jobs as they are the sole shareholder of Eskom who happens to be the biggest creditor and African Exploration. The matter of African Exploration has already been raised with the Minister of Public Enterprises who undertook to investigate how African Explanation could come to the party.
 
6.    General elections
 
The NEC is encouraging all South Africans to cast their votes on the 8th of May 2019. It is only the ANC that can be relied upon to take forward the liberation of this country. The ANC has a track record. Since taking over from those who had the privilege to elect their own government and are now masquerading as democrats, who use the name of the very same Nelson Mandela who they had incarcerated for 27 because to them he was a terrorist, to gain votes, the ANC has extended accessibility to basic necessities like running water and electricity to the poorest of the poor.
The NUM says, “Vote ANC! Vote for a bright future!”     

Issued by The National Union of Mineworkers