Johannesburg - A faction of the Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppwawu) claims it has seen letters from the Department of Labour which instructed the sidelined departmental registrar of labour to abandon plans to put the beleaguered union under administration.
This comes as unions in the country’s largest trade union federation, Cosatu, are plagued by factionalism and division, accompanied by accusations over missing funds, untransparent financial management and flouting of union constitutions.
On Wednesday, Ceppwawu’s sidelined national treasurer, Thulasizwe Sibande, accused labour minister Mildred Oliphant of stonewalling efforts to put the union back on track.
He said righting the union could only be achieved by firm departmental intervention to consolidate the union's financial statements and enforcing its own constitution.
It is understood part of the fight that has rent Ceppwawu down the middle centres on its investment company which has assets to the value of R4 billion.
The union has failed to hold constitutional meetings as a faction aligned to Cosatu president S'dumo Dlamini attempts to hang on to office. The last national elective conference was held in 2010, and the leadership's mandate expired in 2014.
On Wednesday, sidelined leaders who are unhappy with the situation, and who claim to have the numerical majority in the union by virtue of representing four out of Ceppwawu’s seven regions, told journalists Cosatu had failed to intervene in the morass.
But Dlamini has rejected this claim, saying Cosatu would not support putting a union under administration as it would relinquish the power of union members to an un-elected individual.
Speaking to Independent yesterday, Dlamini dismissed the four dissenting regions as unconstitutional “non-structures” without legitimacy.
He said they had no authority to accuse Ceppwawu’s general secretary, Simon Mofokeng, of creating a culture of un-ccountability in the union.
Meanwhile, the labour department has hit back against the allegations made by the dissidents, sticking to its line that the sidelined registrar of labour, Johan Crouse, is likely guilty of gross insubordination which, in fact, warrants a dismissal.
Department spokesman, Sithembele Tshwete claimed Crouse had not acted independently in pursuing putting Ceppwawu under administration, had not informed the department of his actions and had defied “countless” instructions from his superiors.
“He was asked to attend meetings with [the] minister, director-general and deputy director-general. He did not attend all of those meetings, and there was several instances when he was instructed to do things. On countless ocassions he defied, the minister, director-general and deputy director-general,” Tshwete said.
“And we also want to place on record, there’s nothing to say [Crouse] is independent. He was employed to be the registrar and do functions of registering unions and employer organisations. There’s nothing in the act that shows he has independent power. He is functionary of the department of labour. That means that he’s got to conduct himself as a functionary of the department and take instructions from all the reports.”
Tshwete also categorically rejected as “unfounded allegations” accusations made by the four Ceppwawu-regions that Cosatu and the ANC were intimidating the labour department to prevent the intervention to the union.
“Categorically, these are unfounded allegations. There’s no Cosatu or ANC that’s approached anyone within the dept on this issue,” he said.
This was echoed by ANC spokesman, Zizi Kodwa.
“We don’t get involved in the day-to-day running of government as well as the state. That includes the ministers and general deployees of the ANC. We don’t interfere in their general functions and work. They don’t report to the ANC everyday on what is expected from them around their responsibilities,” Kodwa said.
Meanwhile the four regions are coy about whether they support the expelled-National Union of Metalworkers of SA’s (Numsa's) plans to start a new federation.
Ceppwawu North West regional chairman, Scotch Dibetso, said they remained commited to a “strong Cosatu” and did not yet have a mandate from their members o explore a relationship with other sidelined Cosatu leaders.
And despite being barred from the federation’s special national congress earlier this month, they remain hopeful Cosatu’s ordinary congress in November will lead to the reinstatement of Numsa and expelled general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
They plan to fight for the union through the courts for as long as it takes to prevent the union from being deregistered by the labour department.
Labour Bureau