Behind the leadership crisis at NUMSA

Rival factions in the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa are locked in a power struggle. Logo copied from NUMSA website for fair use.

• In a new twist in the power struggle at the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), general secretary Irvin Jim and other office bearers have been suspended by a rival faction.
• The rival faction includes former general secretary Silumko Nondwangu and former deputy general secretary Karl Cloete.
• Jim has said his suspension is invalid and condemned a special executive committee meeting of the union as a “bogus” meeting.
• This comes after months of infighting over who should control the union and its powerful investment company.

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) general secretary Irvin Jim and other national office bearers were suspended at a special executive committee meeting of the union on Monday.

This follows months of infighting in the union between a faction supporting Jim and a rival faction which includes former general secretary Silumko Nondwangu and former deputy general secretary Karl Cloete.

In a statement on Tuesday, Nondwangu said the meeting had decided that Jim, deputy general secretary Mbuso Ngubane and other national office bearers would be suspended pending an investigation.

In a statement issued before the meeting, Jim condemned the “bogus” central committee meeting convened by “unauthorised individuals who are currently suspended” and who are “acting out of self-interest and greed”.

He said the national leadership continued to operate and run the union’s affairs.

Factions

The rival factions are fighting for control of NUMSA, with the dispute escalating ahead of the union’s 12th National Congress.

The latest move follows a central committee meeting last month called by a group of regional and former national office bearers and worker leaders opposed to Jim. At that meeting a five-member task team was set up to oversee the work of the union and a date was set for the national congress at the end of November.

The national leadership rejected the meeting as unconstitutional and announced disciplinary action against those accused of organising the meeting.

Jim accused former NUMSA Investment Company (NIC) chief executive Khandani Msibi of trying to remove the elected leadership. He announced that Msibi had been dismissed from the NIC and said the union would pursue a forensic investigation into the company. Msibi has said he will challenge his dismissal at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

The two sides are now issuing competing instructions about who controls the union, while each accuses the other of undermining its democratic structures.

After the 2 November meeting, those opposing Jim said formal charges had been issued against him and the other national office bearers, including dereliction of duties, conduct bringing the union into disrepute, violations of the NUMSA constitution and wasteful expenditure. They said these charges would be investigated and those accused would have an opportunity to respond.

Investment company

The dispute has its roots in longstanding tensions over NUMSA’s investment company and its funeral insurer, 3Sixty Life.

The NIC was established in 1997 to generate returns and benefits for union members. The NIC built a portfolio of businesses, including financial services, insurance and asset management, under the 3Sixty Group.

For years, Msibi was a close ally and confidant of Jim. Critics accused Jim of protecting Msibi and questioned the influence the NIC chief executive had over the union’s leadership.

These tensions became public in 2021 and 2022, when 3Sixty Life was placed under provisional curatorship after the Prudential Authority raised concerns about its financial position.

Jim backed the insurer’s management, but other union leaders, including then second deputy president Ruth Ntlokotse, questioned why Jim had intervened and whether he was acting in the interests of members.

In March 2022, GroundUp reported that 3Sixty Life had paid for Jim’s R40,000 birthday party and a laptop for his daughter. The payments were among transactions identified in a Deloitte investigation into the insurer’s expenses. The report also raised questions about millions of rands in sponsorships and payments described as support for NUMSA.

Reporting by GroundUp and amaBhungane highlighted concerns about the close relationship between the union leadership and the investment company, and the blurring of boundaries between the two.

Ntlokotse and others called for greater accountability, including forensic and lifestyle audits. Jim and the union leadership rejected allegations of wrongdoing and Ntlokotse was later expelled from NUMSA.

The 3Sixty Life curatorship was confirmed by the Gauteng High Court in September 2022. The company’s management lost control of the insurer.

The investment company has remained central to the current conflict. Jim says resolutions adopted by NUMSA’s congress and central committee require the union to reclaim its majority shareholding in the NIC and investigate its affairs. He says Msibi’s removal will allow the union to access the company’s accounts and recover workers’ assets.

The rival faction disputes Jim’s account of the dispute, saying its actions are about constitutional governance and accountability, not protecting Msibi.

Congress

The immediate dispute concerns who has the authority to convene NUMSA’s structures and organise its next congress.

The faction opposing Jim says the Labour Court ordered the national office bearers to reconvene a central committee meeting that had been adjourned in August. It says Jim cancelled the meeting after applying for leave to appeal, but argues that this did not suspend the court order.

That faction went ahead with its own meeting on 23 October. The meeting appointed a task team comprising former general secretary Silumko Nondwangu, former deputy general secretary Karl Cloete, Xola Balfour, Andile Nqilingwane and Junior Gusha. It also resolved to reverse the dismissal of Sedibeng regional secretary Kabelo Ramokhathali and restrict the general secretary’s ability to initiate litigation in the union’s name without central committee approval.

Jim and the national executive committee rejected these decisions. They said the meeting was not properly constituted because delegates did not have valid mandates from functioning regional structures. They said the national office bearers would remain in office until a properly constituted congress elected their successors.

The national office bearers also announced disciplinary action against 14 people involved in the rival meeting.

In turn, the faction opposing Jim accused the national leadership of using suspensions and threats to silence elected regional leaders and shop stewards who challenged its decisions.

They say the four-year terms of the national office bearers ended in July and that NUMSA must elect new leaders at a national congress from 30 November to 4 December. They also raise concerns about the union’s finances and membership records and call for a forensic investigation into the use of union resources.

The national executive committee says the congress dates cannot simply be imposed while disputes over regional leadership, shop steward elections and delegate mandates remain unresolved.

The current dispute follows earlier court battles over NUMSA’s 11th National Congress in 2022. The Labour Court interdicted that congress after finding that the suspension of Ntlokotse and other members, and the decision to place the Mpumalanga region under administration, were unconstitutional.

However, in August 2022 the Labour Court rejected Ntlokotse’s bid to hold Jim in contempt of court by proceeding with the congress, and Jim’s leadership was re-elected at the 2022 congress, which Ntlokotse did not recognise.

The dispute has continued through subsequent court proceedings and internal disciplinary battles.

The 12th National Congress is meant to be convened sometime this year, but is likely to be postponed to next year. The congress is supposed to provide NUMSA members with an opportunity to elect their leaders and determine the union’s direction. But whether this will happen is already out of workers’ control. It will depend on agreement by leaders, or a legal determination, about who can convene the congress and how delegates are selected.

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