Sign Petition
Clear reasons of Parliament’s branch to invoke section 60 (f) of Nehawu constitution
Before the precautionary suspension of the Branch Secretary, Cde Gubula, dated 13 June 2025, he briefed the BEC on numerous occasions of how he is being sidelined, attacked and frustrated from performing his responsibilities as the Regional Secretary, and the BEC did nothing and failed to inform the branch.
Towards the provincial congress of Nehawu held on 24 – 26 May 2025, the BEC failed to convene a Branch General Meeting (BGM) to sought a mandate from the branch and it caused the following risks to the branch:
• The branch was not informed of the candidacy of our Branch Secretary, who was standing for the position of a Provincial Secretary hence it was unable to decide on whether to support or not support his candidacy; (lack of transparency)
• Due to lack of information about this progress, the branch did not elect the delegates nor does the branch know who the delegates of Parliament branch were at the congress;
• The BEC allowed the upper structures of the union to call our members directly to nominate them as delegates to congress and give them a mandate for congress; (the BEC allowed interference by upper structure and was silent about it)
• Delegates from Parliament branch went to a Provincial Congress of Nehawu to de-campaign and distance themselves from our Branch Secretary who was contesting for Provincial Secretary; (dishonesty, untrustworthy and lack of unism)
• The BEC has failed dismally to defend the political persecution of the Branch Secretary, and resolved to support the suspension of the Branch Secretary under the auspices of narrow Constitutionalism;
• The BEC failed to understand and act consistently with the principles of “An injury to one, is an injury to all”, by throwing the Branch Secretary under the bus and supporting his disciplinary process by a kangaroo court;
• The behaviour of the BEC is a clear indication that they do not have have the interests of the branch at heart, but their narrow personal interests and those of their friends;
• On a BGM held on 11 April 2025, the branch chairperson, comrade Tembe pronounced that he was stepping aside as the branch chairperson to focus on his role as an Acting Section Manager and avoiding a conflict of interest in discharging his responsibilities. Nevertheless, he continued to play an active role and participated fully in the running of the union’s affairs to mention few amongst others (i) attending the provincial congress as a leader of delegates from Parliament who were handpicked, (ii) continued to meet with the Management of Parliament as the branch Chairperson; (iii) attended the meeting of 27 June 2025 and continued to consult with BEC during that meeting. As a last straw which demonstrated that he is not in support of the views of his branch, on a meeting of 27 June he staged a walk out in support of office bearers from the provincial office when they were instructed to excuse themselves from that meeting.
Furthermore, the BEC is refusing to execute the mandate of the BGM of 27 June 2025 which took the following resolutions:
1. Sharing of the letter received from the Province dated 20 June 202, regarding the precautionary suspension of Cde Temba Gubula as Regional Secretary, Branch Secretary, Fulltime Shopsteward and as a member. They read the letter in the BGM for the first time and workers demanded that it be shared, but they haven’t shared it.
2. ⁠A letter to be drafted and shared with members of Union before it was sent to the National Office Bearers of Nehawu, instructing them to rescind the suspension and reinstate Cde Temba in all positions within seven days or face consequences of members withdrawing their union subscriptions. The BEC drafted and sent the letter to the national office without being shared with members and this undermines the resolution taken on a meeting held on 27 June 2025. Numerous enquiries and requests to obtain the copy of the letter were made to the leadership but the BEC ignored these calls.
3. ⁠A letter be sent to Cde Temba for the BEC to apologise for handling his matter the way they did and to inform him about the support that the branch has for him. This letter we have also not seen or heard about it.
4. Recent BEC’s engagement with management on policies affecting the conditions of workers without the branch mandate and the polices will be signed off without the input from the masses.
5. Moreover, the BEC is ignoring our request for the BGM to be convened to address this burning issue.
As concerned members of Parliament’s Branch, we are of the view that the members of the BEC are failing to execute their duties and are acting in a manner detrimental to the interests of union members in our branch. The branch can prove the above-mentioned transgressions in balance of probabilities should the need arises.
It is for the reasons mentioned above that the branch resolved to invoke Section 60 (f) of the Nehawu Constitution, 2022 which provides removal of shop stewards, office bearers and elected officials from office if they are unable to perform their duties. The branch therefore call for the immediate removal of the above-mentioned categories officials as determined by this section 60 (f) but in exception of comrade Gubula who have been loyal to the union and serve it with pride and determination. An interim structure will be elected starting from shop stewards and members to serve in the BEC until the next election congress scheduled in 2027.
In line with POPI Act, please note that the personal information in this petition will not be used for any other purposes rather than determining the statistics of members of the Union who are in SUPPORT of the removal of officials in line with section 60 (f) of Nehawu Constitution.
If you are a member of Nehawu in good standing and supports this cause, please fill in your details below.