Johannesburg - Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa claims that threats to de-register his organisation are part of a plot to oust Amcu as one of the biggest unions in the mining sector.
Mathunjwa expressed his concerns on Wednesday after the Department of Labour had given his union a 60-day reprieve to give the Registrar of Labour Relations, Lehlohonolo Molefe, satisfactory guarantees that they would hold their national congress in September.
Last week the Department of Labour issued its intention to deregister Amcu because it had failed to hold its elective national congress.
Molefe said the union had a congress in 2004, 2007, 2011, with the last being a special congress in 2013. Amcu was supposed to hold its elective congress this month.
Labour Department spokesperson Teboho Thejane confirmed the 60-day reprieve granted to Amcu, and said Molefe would officially communicate his decision to the union today.
But Mathunjwa said on Wednesday: “Amcu made it clear that it was in total compliance with its constitution with regard to the arrangements for the national congress to be held on September 18, 19 and 20.
“The union related how it had followed the timeframes prescribed by its constitution and pointed out that it had acted within its rights to postpone the event from the initial date of May 2019,” Mathunjwa said.
He added that their terms of office expired last year, but said their constitution allowed them a six-month period to prepare for their national elective conference.
He said the conference was supposed to be held this month, but Amcu’s five-month-long strike in the gold sector had prevented that.
Mathunjwa claimed that mining bosses were behind the move to de-register the union because of “our militancy”.
He maintained that the “daggers are out” for his union.