Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali claims leaders of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) are running away from members and not accounting for the use of its money.
Ntshalintshali said the leadership of Samwu, the country’s biggest municipal union, were refusing to co-operate with the federation.
It is feared that the union is headed for a split.
“We tried to set up a task team outside of the Cosatu national office-bearers and included leaders from other affiliates to deal with this issue, but the national office-bearers of Samwu are refusing to co-operate. We can only consult them, but we have no legal power to intervene,” Ntshalintshali said.
Both Samwu president Pule Molalenyane and general secretary Simon Mathe could not be reached for comment.
Ntshalintshali said there were no substantive or ideological differences within the union, except the fight over the use of its resources and issues of accountability.
“People are being purged from the union for asking for accountability over workers’ money. The leadership of Samwu are running away from workers and are refusing to account,” he said.
Last week, Gauteng Cosatu secretary Dumisani Dakile - in his organisational report to the federation’s provincial elective conference in Soweto - said a third split was imminent in the union if there was no immediate solution.
“The union has collapsed into parallel structures from the national and provincial levels and to a large extent to all regions in our province.
“We can indicate from where we are that there is a possibility of a third split in the union, and this is just a matter of time,” Dakile said.
He said the federation in the province had also not been spared from the internal conflicts within Samwu, as some of Cosatu’s leaders were from the union, including deputy provincial chairperson Meisie Sekaledi.
“We have received letters to the effect that she has been expelled by one faction and therefore we should no longer be working with her. In the process of these factional battles, the provincial office-bearers are accused of allowing the faction of the deputy chairperson to operate in the provincial office, and this matter has been brought to the attention of the national office-bearers and they have not been able to provide direction to us on how we should deal with the matter, given its national character,” Dakile said.
Currently, none of Samwu’s leaders and members are eligible to contest for positions in Cosatu because the union has failed to pay fees due to the federation for years.
“The union, as we report to this congress, has not been in good standing for the past three years. Various promises have been made to pay but nothing is forthcoming. Samwu leaders are directly affected by this crisis in that they cannot stand or contest for positions in the federation,” Dakile said.
He said the union was now unable to deal with serious challenges at local government level as it was entangled in divisions.
At the recent Eastern Cape Cosatu provincial conference, the two factions brought their respective delegates and squabbled inside the conference venue, leading to being booted out for being unruly.
The Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union was also flagged for being unstable due to internal battles, with factions continually waging court battles against each other.
“The union has not been convening its structural meetings for the better part of the period under review, and those meeting that were convened have always been adjourned and have not been able to deal with agenda items beyond credentials. The union has not convened its national congress since 2011 due to instability,” Dakile said.
This union has also not been in good standing in Cosatu for the past two years.