The platinum belt is roiling with tension once more after the assassination of Numsa organiser Malibongwe Mdazo
It is 9.25am on Sunday 22 August. A few office-bearers of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa are gathered in the parking lot of a hotel in Rustenburg, North West. They’re caucusing about their feedback to a mass gathering of workers scheduled for later in the day.
“Mdazo was a strong comrade, he had influence,” says Numsa official Enock Manyoni, who worked with Mdazo on recruiting members for the union among contractors at Implats. “He was a good campaigner and organiser.” Numsa’s national spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, says Mdazo’s assassination “was to silence him … He organised thousands of workers at Implats. His murder is directly tied to his activities of organising workers in the mining sector.”
There are about nine mining services companies contracted to Implats’ operations, and Numsa claims that they have been obstructing efforts to have it recognised as the majority union. “Contractors are hostile to Numsa being recognised and they are working with Amcu to frustrate our attempts to negotiate on behalf of workers,” says Hlubi-Majola.
Numsa says its members have been forced to sign Amcu membership forms at three contractors – Reagetswe Trading, Triple M and Newrak. It says they were threatened that they would not be permitted to work if they didn’t sign the forms. He claims that it is Numsa members who have been intimidating and threatening Amcu’s members and says his union cannot be linked to Mdazo’s assassination.
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