Johannesburg 19 February 2019 , AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa held a press briefing to announce a secondary strike by union members in support of of the prolonged stay away at Sibanye Stillwater which has been going on since November 21 2018 in Sandton Johannesburg.Picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency(ANA).
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said the government’s move to deregister the 200,000 member-strong Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) as a labour union sought to strengthen National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is aligned with the governing African National Congress (ANC).
This comes after labour registrar Lehlohonolo Daniel Molefe said in a Government Gazette notice that in terms of section 106 (2B) of the Labour Relations Act, he planned to cancel Amcu’s registration.
This was because it had “ceased to function in terms of its constitution”, and it was “not a genuine trade union as envisaged in the Act”.
The EFF said deregistering Amcu would force workers “to return or join the ANC NUM”.
The EFF rejected the government’s move to deregister Amcu as a labour union, saying this was “consistent with apartheid and capitalist hatred of genuine unions”.
The EFF said in a statement on Thursday: “If the department succeeds to deregister the union, all the workers, [mainly in the mining industry], will be without a union home and representation.”
The red berets accused the department of preferring “unions that are docile and compliant”.
“Amcu has proven to be a militant union that is able to pursue and prioritise the interests of workers,” the EFF said.
It added: “Government should stop taking the side of bosses against workers like they did when they killed workers in Marikana. It was the same attitude, steeped in hating unions, that led to the massacre of 34 black mineworkers who were on strike demanding decent wages,” the party said.
The EFF expressed its solidarity with Amcu and its members, saying it would submit a formal objection to the move to deregister the union.
Read the full statement below:
Amcu was a breakaway from the ANC-aligned NUM under the leadership of Joseph Mathunjwa. It rose to prominence during the Marikana protests and the massacre in which 44 people were killed.
(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu. Additional reporting, Earl Coetzee)
ALSO READ: Govt moves to deregister Amcu as a labour union
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
