SIYABONGA SITHOLE
JOHANNESBURG – The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) says it has instructed its lawyers to challenge Thursday's Labour Appeals Court ruling dismissing its leave to appeal an earlier ruling by Judge Graham Moshoana to interdict the 11th Numsa National Congress.
The congress, which recently elected its top six leadership, is currently under way in Cape Town.
Numsa says it has noted the decision of the Labour Court by Justice Moshoana to deny the union leave to appeal.
In a statement, Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said the union, mired in a series of suspensions of its members, intended to file an application for leave to appeal and petition directly to the Labour Appeals Court for direct access.
"We want to set aside the whole judgment and the order handed down by Justice Moshoana. We believe we have a reasonable prospect of success and that the Labour Appeals Court (LAC) will overturn the judgment on appeal," Hlubi-Majola said.
She said this judgment had affected operations of the union and had the capacity to affect the operations of the organisation in future.
This, is as the union is being accused of stifling democratic processes by its former second deputy president, Ruth Ntlokotse, and other members who were suspended ahead of the congress.
Earlier this week, Numsa said it had lifted the suspension of at least 30 members in order to comply with Judge Moashoana's court ruling as a way to continue holding the congress which subsequently began two days later than the scheduled start date of Monday, July 25.
Numsa says the dispute within the union is of significant importance to the parties and to the public at large, as well as to the interests of labour relations and industrial peace.
"This is why this dispute should sit before more than a single judge,“ the union said.
One of the main reasons driving the union to petition the LAC directly is the fact that the judgment makes authoritative rulings on what Numsa leadership structures can and cannot do.
The judgment declares, for example, that that the Central Committee (CC), which represents the majority of regions, is unable to place dysfunctional regions under administration. This, despite Numsa's constitution stating that the CC may take over the management of the affairs of any region where a regional executive committee has been suspended.
Numsa feels that the court erred when it found that the central committee didn’t have the power to suspend.
"In terms of the constitution, any decision of the NEC or any other lower structure, is subject to review by the central committee as this is the highest decision making body between congresses. These and other factors are some of the issues we will be raising in the court application.
“Given that we will petition directly to the Labour Appeals Court, this will suspend the operation of the decision handed down by Justice Moshoana to deny the union leave to appeal, as per the Section 18 of the Superior Courts Act of 2013," she said.
The union said it had been advised by its team of legal experts. They had advised Numsa to continue with the congress until the matter was heard in the Labour Appeals Court.
The Star