NUM 's response to Maverick

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has noted the baseless article published inside  today ‘s Daily Maverick under the pretext of an "investigation". The writer, a certain Greg Marinovich claims that he has "revealed a furtive conflict of interest, with mining houses footing the bill for top NUM office bearers" (see here).

The writer deliberately distorts what is general practice amongst many unions and limits it to the NUM in his introduction whilst admitting in the body of his article that other unions have been amenable to the practice. The writer, in his racist nature, further goes on to mention the NUM President and Deputy President as being paid salaries by mining companies whilst deliberately leaving the Solidarity and UASA leaders he claims are on the payroll.

The practice of union leadership being seconded to the union and being paid by the employer is a universal practice, not an NUM matter or a mining one as the writer wants it to appear.

The writer extensively makes use of Archie Palane, a former Deputy General Secretary of the NUM who is now a manager at Samancor to drive his point and to try and make it credible.

Marinovich calls the universal practice practised by all unionists in the country an NUM and an "underhand practice" to suit his narrow goal of besmirching the name of our good union. As a matter of fact, all mineworkers and all workers in general are paid by their employers including himself. Thus, if a worker is elected to a trade union office, it is the employer that pays his salary whilst the said worker does work for the union on a fulltime basis. There has never been and there is no conflict of interest in these.

The NUM is perturbed by the poor levels of journalism displayed by the writer and his crew at Maverick who have continuously displayed the lowest levels of judgement.

Statement issued by Lesiba Seshoka,NUM National Spokesman, April 25 2013

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