Expelled manual workers trio to sue union
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Friday March 29, 2019 14:18
The trio, Molemise Teemane, Nicholas Sekwenyane and secretary general, Maophala Mokgosi have been expelled from the union following their suspension for allegedly bringing the name of the union into disrepute and disrupting meetings held by the secretariat meant to establish structures at regional level.
Sources have linked their suspension and ultimate expulsion from the union to the intense power struggle between long-serving chief executive officer, Johnson Motshwarakgole and some members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) over the control of the union.
Last week, the trio approached attorney Kabo Motswagole for legal advice with the possibility to sue. Motswagole was expected to file documents by Friday.
Mokgosi confirmed to Mmegi that indeed they have been expelled from the union and are going to court.
Although she could not go into the details of their expulsion, she did share that they indeed were suing and wanted their expulsion overturned.
“I can’t share with you the details. It is true we have been expelled from the union. I received my letter on the 20th whilst the other two were given theirs a week ago. We have since approached our attorney seeking legal advice and I can tell you that we are suing,” she said.
Mokgosi maintained that members of the NEC who are friends with Motshwarakgole masterminded their expulsion.
Meanwhile, the NEC’s national chairperson Olebile Molamu said it is true that they have expelled the trio because of disciplinary issues.
“We had suspended them for three years with the possibility of lifting the suspension if they were well behaved.
However, they went to radio stations and talked ill about the union. It was a breach of the code of conduct, which they are aware of hence we finally expelled them,” he said.
Molamu indicated that he was unaware the expelled members were challenging their expulsion.