New book ‘102 Things to Do with a Hole in the Ground‘ spotlights global reclamation projects
Stories of reinvented coal mining regions, regenerated communities and rebuilt ecosystems are told in a new book published this month.
South Africa’s Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) said on Monday its threatened de-registration for not complying with labour laws had been halted and that it was in the process of meeting government requirements.
In April, the government’s labour registrar said he intended to cancel registration of AMCU, one of the nation’s largest and most militant unions, because it was “not a genuine trade union” as envisaged in the Labour Relations Act.
With thousands of members at mines operated by companies including Sibanye-Stillwater and Lonmin, AMCU is known for its uncompromising stances and bruising strikes.
But the union was accused of failing to hold an elective conference since 2013, in violation of labour laws that require a leadership vote every five years.
AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa did not respond to requests for comment, but union spokesman Manzini Zungu confirmed the cancellation of the de-registration.
“There were certain things that we needed to respond to, submissions and the like. Subsequent to our submissions, the Department of Labour registrar then took the decision,” he said.
“There are certain things that he was not clear about. But AMCU was always complying,” added Zungu, saying Mathunjwa could give details of that.
There was no immediate confirmation or reaction from the Labour Department.
De-registration would have been a victory for the rival National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is aligned with the governing African National Congress (ANC) party.
(By Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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