Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim
A former senior official of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and current president of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, Ruth Mamolaba Ntlokotse, has accused Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim of perjury and unconstitutional abuse of power.
The allegations that Jim misled the courts to protect a union-linked insurer and silenced members who questioned his decisions are contained in a 16-page letter dated 6 February, addressed to Jim and circulated among union structures. The document was leaked to the Mail & Guardian.
Ntlokotse’s letter responds to a public statement issued by Jim on 18 January after the collapse of his long-standing alliance with Numsa Investment Company chief executive Khandani Msibi. Although Ntlokotse is not named in the statement, she says the claims mirror narratives previously used to justify disciplinary action against her and other leaders who raised concerns about the union’s investment arm.
Ntlokotse, who was expelled from Numsa in 2023, challenged the disciplinary decision in court but her urgent bid was dismissed. She raised her allegations publicly after the resignation of Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, who cited death threats against her. The allegations come as the union prepares for its leadership conference later this year.
At the centre of the dispute is an affidavit deposed by Jim on 3 February 2022 in high court proceedings that resulted in the provisional curatorship of 3Sixty Life, a Numsa-linked insurance company.
In the affidavit, Jim stated under oath that Numsa was not aware of complaints from members regarding delayed or unpaid funeral claims since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But Ntlokotse argues that there was correspondence from union locals, internal meeting records and regulatory documents that demonstrate the union’s leadership was aware of complaints well before the affidavit was filed.
According to the letter, the Port Elizabeth branch raised formal concerns about non-payment and delayed payment of funeral benefits in January 2021, followed by further correspondence later that year indicating that the problems persisted.
She states that the issue was also discussed at national executive committee meetings as early as December 2018 and again in May 2021.
The letter cites reports from the Office of the Ombudsman for Long-term Insurance, which recorded unusually high complaint ratios against 3Sixty Life, as well as a replying affidavit filed by the Prudential Authority during the curatorship proceedings.
The affidavit stated that claims worth R1.2 million remained unpaid, including claims predating curatorship and attributed that to incompetence at the insurer.
“These documented complaints were known to union leadership at the time the affidavit was deposed,” Ntlokotse writes, arguing that Jim’s sworn statement amounted to a deliberate denial of known facts. A February 2022 letter from the Port Elizabeth branch, cited in the document, described the affidavit as “full of distortions and untruths” and accused Jim of perjury.
Ntlokotse also challenges Jim’s claim that the affidavit was authorised through Numsa’s constitutional structures. She states that no meeting of the national office bearers, central committee or NEC was convened to discuss the curatorship ruling or to mandate legal action.
In the letter, she says she was informed via WhatsApp on 21 January 2022 that Jim intended to depose an affidavit but the document was neither shared with leadership structures nor approval sought.
She argues that that violated Numsa’s constitution, which vests the authority to institute or defend legal proceedings in the central committee.
“The deposing of an affidavit in High Court proceedings is not an administrative act,” she writes. “It is a constitutional and political act that requires authorisation.”
The dispute escalated after Ntlokotse objected to the affidavit in a letter to the national office bearers, dated 7 February 2022. She says the internal correspondence was later characterised as misconduct, leading to her suspension and eventual expulsion from the union.
Her letter situated her case within a broader pattern of disciplinary action taken against dissenting leaders. She points to the suspension of more than 50 elected leaders before Numsa’s 11th national congress, the placement of the Mpumalanga region under administration and the exclusion of multiple regions from congress processes.
In July 2022, the Labour Court interdicted the congress, ruling that the suspensions were unconstitutional and the central committee had acted outside its powers. The court found that the exclusion of Mpumalanga undermined the legality of the congress.
Ntlokotse argues that the judgment confirms that disciplinary mechanisms were used to suppress internal dissent rather than enforce organisational discipline.
The letter also raises concerns about the financial management of 3Sixty Life and the Numsa Investment Company, citing findings by the Prudential Authority and public reporting on a Deloitte investigation.
These include unexplained inter-company transfers, loans amounting to tens of millions of rands to related entities and the use of policyholder funds for purposes unrelated to funeral benefits.
She refers to a compliance letter issued by the registrar of labour relations in April 2023, which raised concerns about Numsa’s failure to submit properly consolidated and audited financial statements, weak financial controls and unexplained loans linked to union-associated entities.
Asked for comment, Jim told the M&G that the union “cannot be expected to discuss our internal affairs in the level of detail you are requesting”.
“Our relationship with the department of labour is like that of any other union: the department advises us on legal compliance and we strive to follow the law,” Jim added.
