Theto Mahlakoana writes that the hard-fought right of workers to be consulted on workplace services that affect their welfare, such as catering and company transport, has been hijacked by corruption and self-enrichment.
The commission of inquiry into state capture heard last week from former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi how union leaders were bribed to secure contracts worth millions of rand for Bosasa in the companies where they are organised.
The practice is all too common, current and former leaders told Business Day, indicating that it dates back to the 1980s when outsourcing was introduced for services such as catering and later for transport in South African mines and other big industrial plants such as those owned by Sasol.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was among the organisations that fought to have a stake in the appointment of the service providers, stating that they wanted to have a say in everything that affects workers, including the quality of food.
However, this virtue became the gateway for shop stewards to cut deals with competing companies.
In instances where employers awarded contracts to service providers other than the shop stewards’ preferred bidder, workers would be galvanised to strike, forcing employers to buckle under pressure.
Agrizzi mentioned the names of some of Cosatu’s oldest unions including the NUM, claiming that officials had benefited from tenders that were irregularly awarded to Bosasa by private companies and government departments.
He said the NUM’s former Kloof Gold Mine branch chair, the late Jackson Mafika, was paid bribes by his company to sway decisions over catering contracts in its favour.
Although the NUM said it will investigate the revelations, insiders told Business Day that any shock expressed at the implication of its officials in corrupt dealings is disingenuous.
The corruption is embedded, with branch leaders in mining unions on the gravy train, said a source.
Agrizzi told the commission that a trade unionist from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) had also received a bribe at GoldFields’ Kloof mine.
The revelations expose another layer of complexity in the persistent violence that has marked the competition for members on the mines. Dozens of lives have been snuffed out by bullets as the rivalry between the NUM and its splinter union, Amcu, raged.
Key to winning the power to influence contracts is for the union to secure majority status, which shuts out rival unions and gives shop stewards access to service providers. The lucrative nature of the position also explains the violent rivalry within unions to elect shop stewards.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union rejected claims by Agrizzi that a general secretary of the union was promised R1m for his part in dodgy deals.
Agrizzi also testified that Simon Mofokeng, general secretary of the Chemical‚ Energy‚ Paper‚ Printing‚ Wood and Allied Workers Union (Ceppawu), also a Cosatu affiliate, gave Bosasa inside information for a contract at Sasol.
Mofokeng has over the years fought off numerous court battles, including the labour registrar’s attempts to place Ceppwawu under administration for several irregularities in an attempt to remain at the helm of the dysfunctional union.
He was replaced at the 2018 congress.
Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said the federation does not have a policy to deal with leaders of affiliates who abuse their positions of influence.
He conceded, however, that the revelations threaten the integrity of Cosatu and its members in the light of an already worrying trend, which has seen union investment companies become the source of instability and infighting.
“This is a new area; we never knew we would come to this stage and as a result, we will have to propose policies on how these issues should be treated. We’ll have to discuss it in terms of protecting the integrity of the organisation because it’s not just influence but corruption too,” said Ntshalintshali.
He said the issues will be discussed at Cosatu’s upcoming special central executive committee meeting scheduled for next week.
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