Johannesburg - The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has not formally withdrawn an appeal against its expulsion from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the trade union federation said on Tuesday.
“We want to make it clear that we have not yet received any formal letter or communiqué from them withdrawing their appeal. Until such time that they officially inform the federation of their decision, we will not take any different decisions on the matter,” said Cosatu spokesman Sizwe Pamla.
Numsa announced it would not appeal its expulsion from Cosatu at the federation’s national elective congress to be held later this month in Johannesburg.
Secretary Irvin Jim said the decision was taken during a national executive committee (NEC) meeting held over the weekend where all nine provinces agreed it was time to rest all attempts to return back to Cosatu.
The NEC agreed that there was no point in appealing the expulsion at the upcoming congress that would be “dominated by handpicked delegates and a stage-managed democratic arrangement with votes by show of hands”.
Jim said Numsa would instead concentrate on fast-tracking the process of building a new labour federation.
The union, which was Cosatu’s biggest affiliate, was expelled last year for bringing the federation into disrepute. Numerous attempts by Numsa to return to the Cosatu fold, including a series of court cases, failed.
Pamla said said preparations for the Cosatu congress were in full swing.
We are looking forward to the upcoming congress after a very successful special national congress that represented a defeat of a “political and strategic rapture” in Cosatu.
“The federation’s immediate priority is to strengthen its unity and then explore ways of uniting workers in general. We are busy uniting our affiliates in preparation for the real battle to be directed at the real enemies of the workers – monopoly capital and those reactionary neo-liberal hardliners at the national Treasury.”
ANA