The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) mourns the passing away of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) General Secretary-Comrade Kolekile David Sipunzi-on 25 December 2020. We further extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and his working-class constituency.
Exploited at the point of production at Harmony, on one hand, and oppressed at a social level, on the other, Comrade Sipunzi understood that the liberation of South Africa and the African working-class, in particular, had to take place through a multifaceted class struggle. His working-class activism was activated after joining the NUM in 1985. This was the same year the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was established. During this period, Comrade Sipunzi was involved in a struggle to overthrow the apartheid regime and its repressive industrial/workplace relations.
Comrade Sipunziโs rise within the layers of NUM cannot be separated from historical moments/conditions that shaped South Africaโs political, social, and economic landscape pre and post the 1994 democratic breakthrough. In 2015, Comrade Sipunzi was elected as a General Secretary at the 15th NUM National Congress. The National Congress tasked him and his leadership collective to renew and reconstruct the NUM by going back to basics. This decision was a consequence of unforgettable seismic shifts that affected the unity of the working-class. The turning points include but not limited to the Marikana tragedy, internal divisions within the Tripartite Alliance, and sequential ruptures in COSATU and its affiliates such as NUM and SATAWU, etc.
The passing of Comrade Sipunzi comes at a time the South African working-class is at its most vulnerable stage in development. The current health and economic crisis have aggravated the precarity of workers as a result of a collapsing social protection system, hyper industrial restructuring, retrenchments, and undermining of collective bargaining, etc. Though the current lockdown regulations affected the NUMโs revitalisation process, Comrade Sipunzi remained committed to serving the interests of the industrial proletariat. He equally supported SATAWU in its efforts to steer the union towards greater heights. His contribution to the ever complex and permanent workers’ struggle will always be remembered.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ -๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐!!!
๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ: ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ & ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ญ
๐๐ด๐๐ด๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ: ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ข๐๐: 082 660 4793๐๐ด๐๐ด๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ: ๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ก: 071 021 1903