NUM disapproves of workers' underpayment

Johannesburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) does not condone the underpayment of workers, spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu said on Wednesday.

"The NUM has noted the public discourse about its former president Senzeni Zokwana underpaying his cattle herder," he said.

City Press reported on Sunday that Zokwana, the new agriculture, forestry, and fisheries minister, paid his cattle herder R800 a month.

According to the paper Vuyolwethu Ndabambi (21) earned about R26 a day and worked every day of the week.

"Therefore it is our expectation that comrade... Zokwana... will deal with the issues raised positively and constructively given the concerns and expectations more so triggered by his new status," Mammburu said.

He said the union believed Zokwana stood a better chance of dealing with the matter.

"The duty to respond to the issues raised, while pointing at him, is not limited to him, it should apply across the board to all ministers and deputy ministers beyond the party political landscape," Mammburu said.

The union called on Cosatu national office bearers to lead by example by declaring the remuneration of their workers.

"We call on those leaders who have companies, directly or indirectly through their spouses, to come out clean and declare openly how much they pay their workers," he said.