Corrupt leaders ousted me, say former Numsa deputy

Expelled former deputy president of the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) Ruth Ntlokotse says she was ousted by union leaders who were beneficiaries of corruption.

Numsa’s leadership “is not acting in the interests of its members”, Ntlokotse said on Thursday, adding that a disciplinary process was biased and that she had been denied legal representation. A Numsa central committee meeting voted to dismiss her on July 7.

Numsa — the biggest trade union in SA — is “bleeding members” because of corruption at the leadership level, she said.

Ntlokotse had harsh words for general secretary Irvin Jim and his role in the debacle of Numsa-owned insurance company 3Sixty Life. On March 1 2022, GroundUp reported that Jim’s birthday party had been paid for by 3Sixty Life, which serves Numsa's members. It was the first in a series of stories about the mismanagement of 3Sixty Life, which was placed under curatorship by the Prudential Authority.

During her press conference on Thursday, Ntlokotse accused Jim of committing perjury in a 2022 affidavit, in which he said that Numsa was unaware of complaints about 3Sixty Life.

Ntlokotse said there is documentary evidence that members had complained about poor service from 3Sixty Life as far back as 2018. Jim was now attempting to silence members critical of Numsa’s “corrupt leadership”.

“Members must call for a forensic audit of the investment company and a lifestyle audit on their leaders,” she said.

Ntlokotse is also president of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), to which Numsa belongs. In a letter to Saftu leadership on July 10, Jim argued that Ntlokotse’s expulsion from Numsa disqualified her from remaining Saftu’s president.

Ntlokotse said she would be guided by the decision of the Saftu national executive committee on whether she should step down. Ntlokotse was elected second deputy president of Numsa in 2016 and president of Saftu in May 2022.

Her battle with Numsa leaders led to her being suspended in July 2022 amid various charges of misconduct. She said the suspension was a bid to silence her on the 3Sixty Life matter, and she and took Numsa to the labour court. On July 23, the court interdicted Numsa from holding its national congress and overturned Ntlokotse’s suspension on the basis that it was against Numsa’s constitution.

Numsa proceeded with the national congress despite the interdict, prompting Ntlokotse to approach the labour court again, asking it hold Numsa in contempt and declare the elected leadership null and void.

On August 23 the court ruled against Ntlokotse, agreeing with Numsa’s argument that it had already remedied constitutional breaches by lifting the suspensions and it was not in contempt of court.

Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola described Ntlokotse’s claims as those of a disgruntled former member of the union which weren’t backed up by any evidence.

As an expelled member Ntlokotse had no locus standi and was not nominated for re-election at the July 2022 congress.

GroundUp