Chaos erupts at Saftu congress as Irvin Jim threatens court action against Vavi faction

National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim has threatened the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) that should four suspended national office bearers not be allowed to stand for election, Numsa will boycott the conference in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, and potentially break away from Saftu.

Numsa — Saftu's biggest affiliate — is going ahead with its bid to unseat the federation's general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.

This is despite the trade union having suffered a bloodied nose on Tuesday night after the defeat of its motion to have the outgoing suspended Saftu national office bearers reinstated. The motion was defeated, with 367 votes in favour of the suspensions remaining in effect against 325 for them to be lifted.

Tuesday night's outcome revealed Vavi to have the upper hand in the numbers game, despite Numsa and close ally, the South African Policing Union (Sapu), making up 54% of the voting delegates.

The results also revealed Numsa to not be firmly united behind its boss Jim, who is pushing for the dethroning of Vavi after their falling out.

Numsa nominated Saftu KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Moses Mantsoe to go head-to-head with Vavi for the powerful position.

Jim’s union has fielded candidates for the other five positions against Vavi’s slate, with Mac Chavalala taking on Ruth Ntlokotse for the position of president.  

Voting will take place on Wednesday afternoon with results due on the final day of the conference on Thursday.

In a heated debate, Vavi’s faction insisted the suspended national office bearers do not qualify to stand for renewed terms.

But Jim told the congress that should their candidates be barred from contesting, Numsa will be left with no choice but to go to court to challenge the conference outcome. When he dropped the microphone, chaos ensued with the factions threatening violence against each other.

Vavi’s attempt to calm the situation failed as Numsa delegates marched to the front of the room singing “ungayiyijahi impi, iyabulala [do not call for war for you will get killed]”.

Numsa first deputy president Basil Cele, replacing Vavi at the podium, called for Numsa members to return to their seats.

Vavi warned that continued disruptions have the potential to collapse the congress before its conclusion on Thursday. 

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