BMWU suspends Phikwe branch officials
Onalenna Kelebeile | Tuesday February 10, 2015 13:00
BMWU deputy president and spokesperson, Joseph Tsimako said the three officials, who are the signatories to the branch’s books, failed to account for P10,000 the branch was given in December 2013 for administrative expenses.
He said all branches are allocated P10,000 every month to run their affairs and are required to account for the expenditure before the next allocation can be made.
“They failed to account for the money and that means no allocation could be made to the branch until the committee fully accounts,” Tsimako said.
“As a result, the Selebi-Phikwe branch has not been receiving the monthly funds for the whole of last year and the office has been suffering. Even if the branch was allocated funds, there are no signatories (because the three officers are suspended),” he explained.
Tsimako said the branch committee was given up to November last year to account for the funds, and failed. “We had to suspend and investigate them because we are charged with the responsibility to look after our members’ assets. Necessary action will be taken once investigations are complete and if they are cleared of wrongdoing, then they will be reinstated,” he said. He added that the National Executive Committee recently called a general meeting to update unionists on the matter.
Meanwhile, Tsimako said the union recently met with BCL Mine management to discuss issues of safety, in the wake of three fatal accidents last year.
“During a meeting our members raised serious safety concerns such as excessive heat underground, long working hours, compromised quality of protective clothing as well as the hiring of too many casual labourers,” he said. Tsimako said the mine has promised to investigate and report back to the NEC.