Jim: I have no hard feelings toward Gina

Johannesburg - The National Union of Metalworkers of SA's general secretary Irvin Jim said there is no bad blood between him and Cedric Gina, but is convinced that his resignation as the union's president was politically motivated. 

"We are not fools. We can see that this is a mobilisation ploy and the president wants to play a victim so that in the special congress workers must come there mobilised against... this autocratic Irvin Jim who's violent," he told reporters on Tuesday in Johannesburg.

"The truth of the matter is... we think there is a political agenda."

He said there are people out there voting within the SA Communist Party and ANC who are extremely worried about Numsa's political position.

Numsa handed a copy of Gina's resignation letter to journalists on Tuesday.

In the letter, Gina said he had to end his working relationship with Jim before it turned violent.

Numsa deputy general secretary Karl Cloete said Gina had not sent his resignation letter to the union's national office bearers, but had e-mailed it to the union's 52 local offices.

This was seen as a ploy.

'Bizarre'

"We suspect that this bizarre way of communicating his resignation may have to do with seeking sympathy or mobilising rank and file support to bring divisions through his unexpected resignation," he said.

"What confirms this suspicion is the fact that comrade Gina's media statements suggest that he shall await the decision of 'Numsa structures' on his resignation."

Cloete said Numsa wanted to take the opportunity to announce that Gina was no longer the union's president. Gina had removed himself from the position.

"No individual in Numsa, or constitutional structure or organ of Numsa can reinstate [him]", he said.

Jim said it needed to be asked why Gina was behaving in this way.

"I must admit, knowing Cedric, it's very difficult to believe that this is [him] who speaks.

'Desperation'

"He sounds like somebody who's accounting somewhere else.... The level of desperation of whoever [he is meeting]... is at the centre of this political process."

It seemed Gina had other political aspirations, and that Numsa's current political posture was not favourable, said Jim.

"What can you do? The best way is to demonstrate to both the ANC and the SACP that I'm doing my best to fight Numsa's political position, and I think the president has just done that with his political career," he said.

Gina remained a Numsa member and a shop steward, he said.