The South African Communications Union (SACU), founded in 1917, faces been struck of the register at the Department of Labour, after failing to submit three years' worth of audited financial statements.
SA's Labour Relations Act requires that unions submit audited financial statements that include membership figures, turnover and expenses, as well as financial information. However, despite many letters having been sent to the union, it has so far failed to comply with the Act.
The registrar of labour relations, Johan Crouse, explains that if the union again fails to submit outstanding audited documentation by tomorrow, when the two parties meet, the department will start the legal process of striking SACU off the register.
Crouse says notice will be given in terms of section 106 to SACU to get its house in order within 60 days, or it will cease to be recognised as a trade union - leaving almost 5 000 members in the lurch.
SACU's almost 5 000 members work in the ICT sector and are represented at companies such as Telkom and the Mail & Guardian.
Rubbish
But SACU president Michael Hare says there is no danger of the union being struck off the roll, as it has complied fully with the department's requirements.
risk of being deregistered.”
Hare blames the backlog on the union's previous auditor, who he says did not stick to promised timelines. The union has since changed auditors, and submitted all the outstanding reports, including for the year to February 2010, he says.
However, this is not so, says Crouse, arguing that only unaudited figures have been submitted, which does not meet the department's requirements. “I can confirm that SACU has not submitted audited financial statements for the financial years ended February 2007, February 2008 and February 2009,” he says.
Crouse says unaudited statements for the years ended February 2008 and February 2009 were submitted. “The fact that the statements were not audited means that the union does not comply with its constitution and with the provisions of the Act.”
Long overdue
The Department of Labour warned the union last month to submit its financial statements for 2007 to 2009 by the end of March, or face the risk of being struck off the register.
In two letters, which are in ITWeb's possession, the department says membership and financial statements are outstanding, and warns the union about the consequences of non-compliance with the Labour Relations Act.
The department gave the union until the end of last month to make sure it was fully complaint.
“I refer to my letters dated 9 February 2009, 16 February 2009 and 25 May 2009. It is noted that the union promised to submit information as was requested by not later than 15 January 2010. To date, no information was received,” the registrar writes.
Apart from outstanding documentation, the department says the union was given a qualified audit report for the year to February 2006, because membership numbers had not been reviewed and could not be confirmed.
“The above state of affairs is unacceptable. You are expected to explain the reasons for the above state of affairs and what steps have been implemented by the union on the advice of the auditors to deal with the above situation. It is important to this office that the union received clean audits without qualifications,” wrote the registrar.
Other legal requirements that were outstanding include minutes of meetings, copies of bank account statements and a list of assts.
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