The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) has received, with great shock and  sadness, the news about the passing on of the General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Cde David Kolekile Sipunzi on the 25th of December 2020.

Elected as the General Secretary of one of the founding and largest unions of COSATU, the NUM in its 15th National Congress in 2015 and re-elected in its 16th Congress in 2018, Cde Sipunzi demonstrated over the years his unequivocal commitment to serve not just the workers in the mining sector, but organised and non-organised labour in its entirety given the peculiar socio-economic circumstances we are faced with as a country.

We are taken aback by the realisation that we have lost a leader whom we believe was making a noteworthy contribution towards the growth and stabilisation of both the NUM and the labour federation COSATU. As an affiliate of COSATU, we had the privilege to interact with Cde Sipunzi throughout his years of trade union activism. We believe he has left  valuable lessons for us about commitment to a course and most importantly, the significance of unity of all affiliates of the Federation.

It is In his memory that we will intensify our fight to protect collective bargaining as a fundamental right of the workers across all sectors.

Sithi lala ngoxolo Mbanjwa, uGebane!

ISSUED BY: SADTU Secretariat

CONTACT:

General Secretary, Mugwena Maluleke: 082 783 2968

Deputy General Secretary, Nkosana Dolopi: 082 709 5651

Media Officer, Nomusa Cembi: 082 719 5157