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Johannesburg - Most regions of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) lost members over the past three years, with the Rustenburg region the biggest loser.
That's according to a report which will be presented by general secretary Frans Baleni at the union's congress taking place in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg.
The secretariat report blames the state of affairs largely on the rival Association of Mining Construction Union (Amcu), which it refers to as the "yellow union".
"[This] is attributed to the infiltration of the yellow union and the violence meted out to anyone who dares to remain the member of the NUM."
The report also cited poor service to members in the affected areas as a reason for the decline in numbers.
No specific numbers on the decline of membership were given in the report.
Loss of membership
According to an article in the Mail & Guardian, NUM has lost almost 100 000 members over the past three years, more than 50 000 from the Rustenburg region and 17 000 in Carletonville.
The loss of membership reportedly meant that the NUM fee to Cosatu, which was already cash strapped, would drop by R3m a year.
NUM acting national spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu, however, denied that the union had lost 100 000 members.
According to the secretariat report, the union's largest region PWV saw a decline of almost 10% in membership.
The union attributed this to several factors, including retrenchments, an ageing workforce, mine closures and again, "the infiltration" of Amcu and poor member service.
The region had the highest number of complaints from members on the lack service and non-responsiveness of the region to concerns, according to the report.
Two of NUM's regions had, however, seen an increase in the past three years. The Kimberley region had grown by 6%, while the Western Cape grew by 11%. This was mostly in the construction sector.
North East, the third largest union, had managed to maintain its membership over the past three years.
The Highveld region's membership dropped by less than 8% in the past three years, which was attributed to the high number of retrenchments and competing unions in the mining and energy sector.
From 2012 to 2013, Carletonville bled members at a rate of 61%, but managed to claw back 24% in 2014 thanks to the return of many former members.
NUM's Eastern Cape region had a loss of approximately 11% over the past three years.
This was put down to retrenchments and the lack of work available in the public works programmes. Some losses were also attributed to the construction sector, which was mostly project-driven and seasonal, according to the report.
Free State membership dropped by less than 11% in three years. However, NUM said it was growing and had increased by 5% by the end of last year.
Amcu also had an effect in this region, especially the Beatrix and Masimong branches.
The KwaZulu-Natal region had an average loss of 12% because of retrenchments, end of projects and the closure of companies.
Membership in the Matlosana region dropped by 9% between 2012 and 2013. NUM claimed that Amcu was working hard to recruit members in the region which had resulted in some violence.
In 2014, the region regained 6% of its membership.
