By Neelam Rahim

About 30 suspended NUMSA elected leaders, including shop stewards and officials, are taking the union to court as they believe their suspension was unconstitutional. The suspended members say this is a mass purge designed to prevent anyone who opposes the Irvin Jim faction of Numsa from standing for election in the Numsa national congress, which begins on Monday.

In discussion with Radio Islam is Kwanda Khanyile, the suspended Chairperson of Numsa Meyerton.

According to Kwanda, the reasons behind the suspension vary, but for some, like mine, it has not been stated yet. They accuse me of marching with a different core.

He says, in reality, there are two reasons why people have been suspended. One is to challenge and hold accountable Union leaders and the Numsa investment companies. The second is those people suspected of not voting for their current leadership.

Members will now be taking the matter to Labour Court on Friday.

Kwanda tells Radio Islam, “We are going to court to ask for our suspension to be lifted as we strongly believe our suspension is not constitutional.”

There are also concerns about the Numsa Investment Company, which Kwanda stated failed to generate the dividends it was supposed to pay into the trust for years.

According to Kwanda, the number of companies that Numsa owns. People have registered several complaints concerning these companies have failed to pay on time.

He says everything got loose during the pandemic where workers received just a portion of their salaries. And then we have come to the light that Numsa investment companies have donated money to political parties while the workers were starving.

Furthermore, Kwanda says, “We believe that we have a strong case that will be taken to court and we trust that the justice system will hear us and give us justice.”