Another court turn in Amcu leader tussle

With the Labour Court having recently declared the election of the Association of Mine Workers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa unlawful, ousted Amcu deputy president Nkosikho Joni on Wednesday vowed to tighten the screws on the embattled Amcu leadership by opposing the union’s appeal application.

This amid allegations having surfaced from highly placed sources about black contractors at Impala Platinum Mine
operations in Rustenburg being “fleeced of monies” by the Amcu North West leadership.

While Mathunjwa did not respond to questions sent to him by The Citizen, sources have told of black contractors at Impala being “asked to pay questionable monies to Amcu leaders in the North West”.

In his November ruling, Acting Judge of the Labour Court Sandile Mabaso set aside the election of Mathunjwa as Amcu president at the union’s congress at Birchwood Hotel in September 2019 – declaring it unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.

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Reflecting on what led to the souring of relations between him and Mathunjwa, Joni said: “Around April 2019, there was a notice from the office of the registrar of labour relations of an intention to deregister Amcu.

“One of the reasons from the department of labour was that Amcu has not been holding a national elective congress for more than five or six years.

“That meant Amcu was indirectly forced to go to congress, which took place on 20 September 2019.

“On 10 October of the same year – just a week or two after the congress – Amcu wrote to me stating that I shall only resume duties at the union headquarters in the following year, on 6 January 2020.

“By that time, those elected with Mr Mathunjwa and [union treasurer] Jimmy Gama were already in office.

“But myself [Joni] and two other officials were prevented from assuming office at Amcu headquarters.

“On 31 October, people came to me after a meeting with Mr Mathunjwa,” Joni said.

“Their mandate from him was to ask that I be requested to resign as deputy president and go back to [my] region.

“He said he did not want me at national office. When I asked for the reason, the guys said: ‘He did not like you because he thinks you are corrupt’.”

Joni, who refused to resign, had his own allegations of corrupt practices at the union.

“One of the things I was opposed to was the idea of using of worker subscriptions to buy a farm for Mr Mathunjwa,” Joni claimed.