The Congress of SA Trade Unions has congratulated the newly elected leaders of its affiliate, the National Union of Mineworkers.

NUM’s three-day national congress culminated in the election of Phillip Vilakazi as president, Olehile Kgware as deputy president, Mpho Phakedi as general secretary, Phillip Mankge as deputy general secretary and Helen Diatile as treasurer general.

“We look forward to deepening the umbilical bonds between the federation and its affiliate, NUM, which played a leading role in the founding of Cosatu,” said Cosatu spokeswoman Zanele Sabela.

“The federation is committed to working with the newly elected leadership to take the union, the federation and working-class struggles forward.”

Cosatu said the new leaders had significant challenges to tackle, including job losses and fatalities.

 In the past year alone, the sector shed 13,000 jobs and recorded 42 fatalities, it said.

“One death is one too many, given the devastating impact of losing a breadwinner on family,” it said.

The construction sector was under siege from the construction mafia, while policy uncertainty plagued the energy sector.

Sabela said the new leadership marked a new era for worker advocacy in South Africa.

“The federation looks forward to working with the newly elected leadership to advance the interests of workers and promote social justice.”

Vilakazi has assured workers in the mining sector to expect strong representation and advocacy.

“We are excited about the future and look forward to working with Cosatu to advance the interests of workers,” he said.

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In a dramatic and unexpected outcome at the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) 18th national congress, deputy president Phillip Vilakazi unseated his superior Dan Balepile to become the new NUM president, winning by 80 votes.

NUM spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu confirmed that the congress had resolved to prioritise elections over policy commissions, which would be completed at a special congress set for next month.

“The delegates agreed that elections must come first, and the declarations and resolutions will be finalised later,” Mammburu said.

The surprise result capped off three days of intense politicking, delayed programme items and unresolved tensions within the broader labour movement.

Vilakazi now leads a new top five leadership structure that includes Olehile Kgware as deputy president, Mpho Phakedi as general secretary, Phillip Mankge as deputy general secretary, and Hellen Diatile as treasurer.

The vote took place on Thursday after long delays, with results only finalised late into the night.

The new leadership will steer NUM through the next three years, a period likely to be marked by rising economic uncertainty, worker agitation and the union’s shifting role in South Africa’s contested political space.

The leadership race between Vilakazi and Balepile, once allies, became the defining feature of the congress, overshadowing the expected deliberations on mineworker safety, retrenchments, outsourcing and NUM’s stance on the future of the Tripartite Alliance.

While NUM claimed the focus was on policies rather than personalities, the energy on the floor suggested otherwise.

Delegates from all 11 NUM regions voted in blocs.

Under NUM rules, losing candidates must return to their previous employment, meaning Balepile will now vacate the office he has occupied since 2022.

“Whoever loses goes back to the company where he works. They become ordinary members of NUM again,” said Mammburu.

This leadership turnover comes amid escalating discontent within the alliance.

The outgoing president had criticised the African National Congress during his opening address for aligning with the Democratic Alliance and Freedom Front Plus in the Government of National Unity (GNU), describing it as a betrayal of the working class.

He also cautioned against viewing the SA Communist Party’s independent electoral ambitions as a threat to the ANC.

Whether the new leadership will maintain this combative tone or seek a more conciliatory alliance strategy remains to be seen.

NUM’s policy direction on the ANC, the GNU and the 2026 local elections will only be formalised once the reconvened congress concludes policy deliberations.

Members arrived at the 2025 congress with a long list of pressing concerns. These included job losses due to mechanisation and outsourcing, wage stagnation, poor safety standards in mines, and the retrenchments sweeping across the mining and metal sectors.

With around 200,000 members in the mining, energy, automotive and metal industries, the union is facing pressure to respond to worsening economic conditions.

Many members expressed alarm over employers using labour brokers to replace long-standing NUM workers with temporary staff, undermining collective bargaining and weakening job security.

With unresolved declarations, an uncertain alliance future, and a new leadership team under scrutiny, the coming months will test NUM’s ability to reclaim its position as a fierce advocate for South Africa’s workers.

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None of the 260 miners stuck underground following an accident at a Sibanye-Stillwater gold mine in South Africa have been injured or killed, a senior union official said on Friday, as the company said 79 had been brought to the surface.

The miners were stuck underground after the hoist system used to access a shaft at the Kloof gold mine – one of Sibanye’s deepest, situated about 60 km (37 miles) west of Johannesburg – was damaged in an accident on Thursday.

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Health and Safety Chairperson Duncan Luvuno told journalists he feared for the safety of those still inside the mine.

“Fortunately there were no fatalities or injuries,” he said. “But for … 24 hours people were not eating or drinking anything. This is not adequate. Some have chronic diseases,” he said.

Journalists were barred by security guards from getting near to the site, but a Reuters reporter saw some of the miners, looking tired but in good health, walk to the perimeter of the company grounds and board buses.

But relatives of those still in the mine expressed shock and worry that their loved ones remained underground.

“I haven’t slept a wink,” said Mamodise Mokone, whose husband was among the miners.

“I just want to tell the management or whoever is in charge: I just want my husband out alive,” she screamed at the top of her voice.

Sibanye earlier said all the workers were safe after what it called a “shaft incident” in the Kloof 7 shaft and were gathered at an assembly point where they had been provided with food as efforts were under way to bring them out of the mine.

“The remaining 181 employees … have been provided with food and will be hoisted to the surface as soon as safety to hoist is confirmed,” the company said in a statement.

A spokesperson had earlier said 289 workers were underground.

Johannesburg-based Sibanye is among only a few South African miners squeezing profits from some of the world’s deepest and costliest gold mines. Sibanye is digging for gold at depths of about 3,200 meters (about 2 miles) at the Kloof 7 shaft.

The Kloof mine, which accounts for 14% of Sibanye’s total gold output, also operates two other shafts. The company mines platinum-group metals in South Africa and the United States as well.

Mining accidents are not uncommon in South Africa, where many abandoned mines have been taken over by informal diggers.

Earlier this year, at least 78 bodies were pulled from an illegal gold mine after police cut off food and water supplies for months in an attempt to crack down on illegal mining activity.

Reuters

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The National Union of Mineworkers has come out swinging against Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s proposal to privatise parts of Eskom’s infrastructure. 

The NUM rejected Ramokgopa’s claim that privatisation would boost generation capacity, calling it a “dangerous and misguided justification”. 

Khangela Baloyi, who is the union’s energy sector coordinator, said the NUM viewed any attempt to privatise Eskom infrastructure as a direct attack on the public interest and a betrayal of the South African people.

“We will resist this plan with all available means and challenge those who act as lapdogs of private capital,” he said in a statement.

This rejection follows Ramokgopa announcing a detailed strategy to stabilise the country’s fragile grid and drive economic growth.

“The R440 billion project, spanning a decade, will introduce independent transmission providers to procure and build 14,000 kilometres of power lines and hundreds of transformers,” the minister said in his presentation.

However, Baloyi said the proposed introduction of Independent Transmission Providers to construct 14,000km of transmission lines was a thinly veiled attempt to drain Eskom’s finances.

“This scheme mirrors the detrimental impact of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which currently force Eskom to purchase exorbitantly priced electricity, regardless of demand.”

He said that Eskom’s financial reports revealed that IPPs contributed 10% of overall capacity, but accounted for 27% of primary energy costs. 

IPPs cost 2,367 R/MWh vs 541 R/MWh implying that they were are about 430% expensive., Baloyi said.

“These figures demonstrate the unsustainable financial burden imposed by IPPs, which prioritise profit over the national interest. The NUM will not stand idly by as this neoliberal agenda undermines the well-being of South African citizens. We have a proud history of resisting the 1996 class project and will continue to fight this new wave of privatisation,” he said.

Baloyi said the NUM has requested a meeting with Ramokgopa to discuss the nation’s energy future. 

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