by Thinus Ferreira
The SABC has dropped its recognition of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), telling staffers that the trade union will no longer be recognised as a bargaining group since its membership has fallen below the threshold of 500 represented staffers at the South African public broadcaster.
The CWU has slammed the move, saying the SABC's notice issued by Rachel Masuku, the SABC's head of human resources, is "a fabrication and a deception".
The move to scrap the CWU's representation leaves Bemawu as the only recognised trade union for workers at the SABC.
In an internal memo, Rachel Masuku, the SABC's head of human resources, on Monday told SABC staffers that the South African public broadcaster has "terminated" the recognition rights of the CWU.
The SABC says the CWU no longer adheres to, and is in "non-compliance with clause 11.1.4 of the Recognition Agreement".
This agreement stipulates that "In the event of the union membership decreasing to under 500 members in the bargaining unit and the union failing to resolve its representativity within three calendar months or such period as shall be agreed to, the union shall lose its recognition status".
In November 2024 the SABC told the CWU that its membership had fallen to below 500 SABC staffers and was given three months from 19 November to bring its union tally to back over 500.
An extension of a further two months was given to the CWU but it failed to close the 500 threshold.
"CWU will no longer enjoy recognition rights within the SABC with effect from today," Rachel Masuku told SABC staffers in the internal memo on 23 June.
The CWU says it "anticipated" the SABC's move that it calls an "atrocity", noting that the CWU "had suffered the most brutal forms of union bashing".
The CWU says "For over three years, the SABC [has been] guilty of deliberately dragging out wage negotiations for months and months on end, the malicious collapse of the policy negotiations, victimisation of union members, non-compliance to occupational health and safety, unilateral restructuring to terms and conditions of employment, threatening shop stewards who fulfill their duties then subsequently suspending them, then dismissing them, negotiating in bad faith, while for almost a decade the SABC has viciously weaponised the employee relations regime".
The CWU says the trade union "never received an official notice of the illegal derecognition but received the notice via workers" and that "What is contained in the notice to employees as crafted by Rachel Masuku is actually a fabrication and a deception".
The CWU notes that it has filed a dispute with the CCMA in relation to its derecognition at the SABC on 24 June.
"We are calling for a full investigation into the union bashing of the CWU at the SABC, including the dismissal and suspension of its shop stewards".
Mmoni Nugbane, SABC spokesperson, didn't respond to a media query TVwithThinus made on Thursday about the SABC's notification of scrapping its recognition of the CWU as a trade union.
