Dinga Sikwebu on Numsa's Expulsion from Cosatu and Reasons for the Launch of the United Front
Channel: SACSIS
Date: 2014-12-08

On November 22, at a panel discussion co-hosted by SACSIS and Norwegian People's Aid, Dinga Sikwebu, co-ordinator of Numsa's United Front talked to an international civil society audience about the metalworkers union's expulsion from Cosatu and the reasons for the launch of Numsa's United Front. Sikwebu argued, "the people at Cosatu think that it's a policy for (the federation) to stay in the alliance." Numsa was expelled because it "violated that policy". There are other charges against the metalworkers' union, but in the main, Numsa sees its expulsion from Cosatu as being politically motivated.

Sikwebu made these remarks at a panel discussion co-hosted by SACSIS and Norwegian People's Aid under the banner, "The Relationship between Labour and Civil Society in the Struggle for Social Justice". The panel took place at the Civicus International Civil Society Week hosted at Wits University in late November. The event brought together civil society activists from all over the world.