Under-fire NUM says it is still blue-collar

14 September 2014 - 02:30 By LUCKY BIYASE
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THE National Union of Mineworkers says its alliance with the ANC does not mean it has lost touch with the working class.

THE National Union of Mineworkers says its alliance with the ANC does not mean it has lost touch with the working class.

Union spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said "about 67% to 70% of our members in the mining industry are blue-collar workers".

Mammburu said the NUM was still recruiting members without any problems, except in areas with high levels of intimidation.

But the NUM is shedding members to the metal-workers' union Numsa, another affiliate of Cosatu and one that has recently pitched itself as a rival to the NUM.

Experts say the NUM's link to the ANC is both a help and a hindrance. The alliance is seen by some as a short cut to getting an audience with the government, but others say the relationship is too cosy and not helpful to workers.

A number of high-profile NUM leaders have taken positions in the ANC, including Cyril Ramaphosa, Gwede Mantashe and Senzeni Zokwana.

Mammburu said the relationship with the ANC had not hurt his union and had not led to it abandoning blue-collar workers for the middle class.

"All Cosatu affiliates including Numsa are part of the tripartite alliance. The ANC cannot be a reason NUM is being weakened. The ANC is not an employer in the sector we are organising. We had so many strikes since 1994 to advance our members' interests."

The NUM has lost members to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union on the platinum belt , but it remains the strongest union in coal and gold mines in this area - although even this may be under threat.

Amcu was born on the Mpumalanga Highveld, where there are many coal mines and where its leader, Joseph Mathunjwa, is well known. It is busy recruiting NUM members in that area.

Amcu is struggling, however, to establish formal structures and relies mainly on Mathunjwa's charisma and emotional leadership. The union's coffers have been bled by legal fees for its members at the Marikana inquiry.

The NUM faces another challenge from Numsa , which has been recruiting members on mines near power stations.

Numsa, headed by Irvin Jim, supports Zwelinzima Vavi and has been heavily critical of the ANC. Like Mathunjwa, Jim seems to have no allegiance to any politician, least of all President Jacob Zuma.

If anything, he and Numsa seem to be going ahead with plans for forming an organisation to the left of Cosatu and the ANC.

And Numsa seems to be easily recruiting disillusioned NUM members. The latest blow to the NUM was Numsa's recruitment of about 300 people at Glencore's Tweefontein operations in Mpumalanga.

Solidarity, which is often painted as a "whites-only interest group", is sticking with the NUM.

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