Numsa supporters outside Cosatu House

A group of Numsa supporters waiting outside Cosatu House in Johannesburg dispersed late on Friday afternoon.

They gathered in the morning ahead of the start of the Congress of SA Trade Unions' (Cosatu) central executive committee (CEC) meeting, where the National Union Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) was expected to defend itself against plans to expel it from the trade union federation.

The meeting spent the morning and most of the afternoon dealing with credentials. By lunch time, it had not yet adopted the agenda and the opening, by Cosatu president Sidumo Dlamini, had yet to happen.

The CEC meeting was expected to continue late into the evening.

The metalworkers' union must provide the CEC with reasons why it should not be expelled or suspended after being accused of contravening Cosatu's constitution.

On the agenda on Friday was the status of Cosatu second deputy president Zingiswa Losi, who resigned from Ford earlier this year, where she was a Numsa shop steward. This called into question her eligibility to continue to serve as a Cosatu leader.

Following her resignation, she joined the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union. She was suspended by her local Numsa branch in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape, last year.

The CEC was expected to vote later on Friday whether the meeting should deal with the Numsa or the Losi issue first.