The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and its resilient Affiliate, the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (CEPPWAWU), are once again celebrating a court ruling against the union’s now former administrator, Mr. Sipho Sono.

On 28 January, the Labour Court ordered the removal of Sono as administrator of CEPPWAWU. To our surprise, the failed business rescue specialist appealed the ruling in an attempt to extend what COSATU and CEPPAWAWU consider a dark chapter in the union’s 27-year existence. 

CEPPWAWU was initially put under administration by the Registrar of Labour Relations in June 2020, following a failure to manage its own affairs since 2018. The first administrator appointed by the Registrar was axed after members of the union expressed dissatisfaction with her poor performance.

Sono was subsequently brought in as an interim administrator for six months, before he was eventually appointed. His marching orders couldn’t have been simpler – appoint an experienced facilitator to convene CEPPWAWU’s regional and national congresses as per its constitution and ultimately elect a new leadership for the union. For his part, Sono would be required to compile audited financial statements from the year ending 2018 onwards.

The congresses were to be convened and concluded by 30 September 2023, after which the control, management and affairs of the union would be handed over to the new union leadership on expiry of Sono’s term on 12 December 2023. But Sono repeatedly failed to deliver on his mandate, prompting the Registrar to petition court to have him removed.   

Among the Registrar’s concerns was Sono’s inability to compile and finalise the union’s audited financial statements. Consequently, audited financial statements for the years ending 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 are still outstanding. Sono has always maintained there were no funds to compile and finalise the financial statements. However, the Labour Court found this to be untrue because CEPPWAWU Investments had offered him a loan with conditions meant to keep him accountable and transparent.

The Registrar was also aggrieved by Sono’s failure to manage the union’s funds. A case in point is his refusal to recover union funds his predecessor had helped herself to by accessing CEPPAWAWU’s bank account, claiming it was monies owed to her from her tenure as administrator. By refusing to recoup the funds, Sono failed to act in the union’s best interests and thereby breached his fiduciary duties.

After failing to appoint a facilitator to convene the congresses, not safeguarding the union’s funds, and failing to finalise the audited financial statements, it boggles the mind why Sono was fighting to stay on as CEPPWAWU administrator. The one factor he never failed at, however, was paying himself an elaborate fee.

Mr. Gerhard Vosloo was appointed by court in January to replace Sono as CEPPWAWU administrator. His term started on 1 March and will expire on 30 December 2026. As per court order, Vosloo will finalise all outstanding audited financials and convene a National Congress to elect national leadership for CEPPWAWU; after which he must handover control of the union to the national leadership.  We are confident that under Vosloo’s stewardship and given his previous success in taking the South African Medical Association Trade Union (SAMATU) to congress under similar difficulties, CEPPWAWU will soon be returned to its rightful place as a legally compliant union focussing on defending the jobs and rights of its members and the working class.

COSATU reiterates, we are overjoyed to see Sono go. We sincerely hope this will be the last we hear of him and that he will not be given an opportunity to do this to another unsuspecting organisation.

Issued by COSATU

Zanele Sabela (COSATU Spokesperson)

Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639Email: zaneles@cosatu.org.za