A former leader of Samwu is facing a lawsuit from the organisation to repay millions of rand. Picture: Jacques Naude / Independent Newspapers
THE SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) wants to over R9.6 million from its former deputy general secretary Moses Miya, who is accused of stealing the money over three years.
Miya was the Cosatu affiliate’s national office bearer between 2012 and 2015 and was later elected deputy general secretary, a position he held from 2016 to 2018, when he was suspended following a damning report by auditors Ernst and Young.
He was later fired in March 2020 for failing to comply with the conditions of his suspension.
Samwu had laid criminal charges against Miya in 2015 accusing him of having committed fraud, theft, and alternatively, money laundering but the matter was struck off the roll by the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court in October 2017.
The union later instituted an action in the Free State High Court against Miya for the payment of R9.6m.
Miya allegedly perpetrated a series of thefts and/or fraud from January 2012 to December 2015, when he unlawfully caused sums of money to be transferred from Samwu’s bank accounts to the accounts of the union’s service providers.
Two weeks ago, Judge Joseph Mhlambi found that the Free State High Court has no jurisdiction to entertain Samwu’s action.
Miya’s special plea on jurisdiction must succeed with costs, according Judge Mhlambi’s ruling.
The basis of Miya’s special plea on jurisdiction was that he was based in Gauteng whereas the union filed its bid to recover the millions in the Free State, where his wife lived.
He also argued that the union took too long to launch its application, which only happened in 2023.
In addition, Miya said Samwu sought an order directing Old Mutual Super Fund Pension Fund to deduct certain monies from his pension benefit.
However, the union failed to join Old Mutual Super Fund Pension Fund as a defendant in the matter, which he maintained constituted a material non-joinder in the proceedings.
Miya could not be reached for comment this week but Samwu’s current general secretary Dumisane Magagula said the union had received the high court ruling on jurisdiction.
“We are in possession of legal opinion from our legal counsel which states that we have very good prospects of success to appeal the ruling.
“We shall be consulting our executive structure on whether we should appeal or simply take the matter to another court,” he explained.
Magagula said the interest of the union was on the merits of the case, which the court should hear.
”The merits include a possibility of recouping monies of the union as per recommendations of the Ernst and Young forensic audit,” he added.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za