Amy Musgrave
19 November 2008
Johannesburg — THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has accused the Congress of the People (COPE) of starting a campaign of misinformation among miners concerning their pension funds in an effort to recruit new members.
NUM general secretary Frans Baleni said yesterday that workers, especially on the gold mines, were being told that the union's leadership - which is linked to the African National Congress (ANC) - was stopping pensions from being paid out.
"We believe in freedom of association but this is false information. The act (which governs pensions) doesn't allow workers to access that money unless they have resigned, been retrenched, or dismissed," he said.
Baleni, and NUM president Senzeni Zokwana, said they were particularly concerned about the rumours because they could lead to violence. "Individual mine workers don't earn much and they are highly indebted. They will fall for this (misinformation). We have to be very vigilant as a union. It is a threat to peace and stability at a time when the industry is already facing challenges."
Senior COPE member Smuts Ngonyama denied the allegations yesterday.
"I don't think there is any truth in what they are saying. They are just trying to pass the buck." He said that COPE had no policy on pension funds, and would have no position on disseminating the information alleged by the union.
Many union leaders and miners have been killed over the years due to misleading information from political opportunists. In 1999, an NUM national executive committee member was stabbed to death in Carletonville after rumours were spread that the union was embezzling pension money.
Baleni said, "People mustn't play games, these things cost lives and lead to damage of property." He said the union was aware of four people, whom he did not name, who were spreading the lies.
O ne was a former leader of NUM who had not beenre-elected. Union members from Gold Fields, AngloGold, and DRDGold in the Carletonville area, and Harmony and AngloGold in the Klerksdorp area, had contacted the NUM about the matter to complain.
Baleni said the NUM had no intention yet to contact COPE about the misinformation, because "we don't want to create the impression that we are preventing them from organising" among miners.
The NUM's leadership has instead engaged the mines, including AngloGold's head office, and they had agreed to help the NUM in correcting the perceptions about how the pension funds worked.
The Mineworkers' Provident Fund had issued a notice clarifying the matter, and the NUM's leadership would hold meetings with shop stewards.
AngloGold spokesman Alan Fine said the mine had become aware of the rumours some time ago, and confirmed that NUM had been in contact with the company. "We and the fund have put out briefs.
"We want to ensure that the correct information goes out and we will monitor the situation," he said.
'The act which governs pensions doesn't allow workers to access that money unless that have resigned, been retrenched or dismissed. Individual mine workers don't earn much and they are highly indebted ... they will fall for this misinformation' - NUM on rumours that its leaders are stopping members' pensions from being paid out.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
