South African Municipal Workers’ Union

The embattled South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) said on Wednesday that it has mandated its national office bearers to open criminal cases against other persons and companies involved in stealing money from the union account.

This as Samwu confirmed that the workers’ coffers had been plundered of almost R88 million in just three years and said that the report into this wide-scale plundering had been kept under wraps.

Samwu said the bank accounts had a combined balance of just more than R94.5 million by 3 November 2015, but this had drastically decreased and the union’s bank balance was over R6.2 million, and not the R538 which has been widely reported in the media.

“The special CEC has therefore resolved that the attorneys which have been implicated in the report should be removed from the union’s panel of attorneys and also be reported to the law society,” it said.

“Employees who have been im
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Damning discoveries made by the Labour Registrar of large scale financial irregularities, including a questionable loan amounting to R12 million received from VBS mutual bank, could leave SAMWU under administration.

The biggest municipal trade union in South Africa, the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) could be placed under administration soon.

This follows several damning discoveries made by the Labour Registrar Advocate Lehlohonolo Molefe of large scale financial irregularities, including a questionable loan amounting to R12 million Samwu received from the now-defunct VBS Mutual Bank.

According to Molefe, the loan has not been repaid, although Samwu general-secretary Simon Mathe has denied this.

“There appears a payment purported as a loan from the now discredited, dysfunctional and what has been referred to as ‘the heist bank’ – VBS bank of R11,8 million. The first repayment of R5 millio
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