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South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) is ululating as two of our own take their place within the National Council of Provinces and the North West Legislature.

SATAWU former Deputy President, Robert Mashego, is set to be sworn in as Member of NCOP today while former North West Provincial Secretary, Job Dliso, was sworn as Member of the North West Legislature yesterday.

Mashego originally joined the South African Railways and Harbour Workers Union (SARHWU) before it merged with the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) to become SATAWU in 2000. At the time he was working for Transnet as a shunter. Due to his dedication he was elected chairperson of the Springs local office. He rose to prominence during 1987 Transnet strike and was then elected Chairperson of the Gauteng Region. Mashego was among the officials who played a crucial role in merger that saw SATAWU emerge as the country’s largest transport union. Two smaller unions The Black Transnet Allied Trade Union (BLATU) and the Transnet Allied Trade Union (TATU) had earlier merged with SARHWU.

Following the merger, Mashego held the position of Gauteng Chairperson and was then elected 2nd Deputy President at SATAWU’s second Congress in 2003. He went on to become the union’s 1st Deputy President before he was deployed to the Ekurhuleni Municipality where he was a ward councillor following the 2011 Local Government Elections. In the period prior to being sworn in to the National Council of Provinces he served as Chief Whip in the Ekurhuleni Council.

The former Deputy President spent the bulk of his union career as a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of SATAWU and later Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). He is fondly regarded for his forthrightness and humour.

Dliso, on the other hand, came up the ranks of the union via the security sector. He was a full-time shop steward at Chubb before being elected an office bearer in a local North West office. He then held the position of Provincial Treasurer prior to being elected Provincial Secretary in 2012. In 2016, Dliso was deployed to manage the Northern Cape provincial office as a CEC project. That same year he was elected COSATU North West Provincial Secretary and took over the reins from the federation’s current Deputy General Secretary, Solly Pheto. He held the role masterfully for two terms. An ANC activist in his own right, Dliso has always participated energetically in alliance structures.

He will be missed by his union comrades for his mobilising prowess as he led many a SATAWU and COSATU march.

SATAWU is a proud union today and wishes both these comrades all the success in their new roles. We urge them to never forget their roots and always act in the best interest of the working class.

Issued by The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union