For years now, comrades have been asking: "Where do all these unions come from? Who are these guys really representing – the workers or their jackets?" History will not smile on these charlatans. They are now facing the wrath of the law.

The Labour Relations Act of 1995 required each and every trade union and employer organisation to register in terms of section 95 and 96. But the amendments of 2002 went even further. They allowed the Registrar to investigate organisations to ensure that they were bona fide trade unions or employer organisations.

And last year the Registrar started to do just that. The Department of Labour sent written notices to 504 registered unions and 270 employer bodies advising them to meet all the registration requirements, failing which a notice of the Department's intention to de-register them was to be published in the Government Gazette. The deadline for submission was November 30, 2002 .

On January 31 this year, the names of 18 bogus unions and 11 employer organisations were published in the Government Gazette. And although Numsa was not on the Department's list of 158 trade unions and 41 employer bodies that had failed to submit financial statements for the past 5 years, some Cosatu affiliates – Cwu, Satawu and Nehawu – were. They now have 60 days to submit their financial statements together with an auditor's report to the Registrar of Labour Relations. If they don't they could be deregistered.

Organisations that have failed to submit auditor's reports or financial statements:

Non compliance since

Number of years

Trade Unions

Employers' organisation

1996

6 years

15

12

1997

5 years

13

1

1998

4 years

34

9

1999

3 years

44

5

2000

2 years

30

8

2001

1 year

22

6

Source

Numsa News