PORT ELIZABETH – The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said on Tuesday in a statement that was disappointed that Samancor had not organised a meeting of the working group consisting of employees and labour representatives with Ndizani Trust members. 

Numsa said that the working group was hoping to meet with the trust to get information on the financial status of the trust. 

"The Ndizani Trust is the employee share ownership programme (ESOP) and our members are concerned about its finances," Numsa said in the statement.

"Our members are frustrated because they have been seeking this engagement with the trust since February. As Numsa, we wrote several letters requesting feedback on the state of the ESOP after members questioned the pay-out which they received," the union said. 

"This was before the allegations emerged in the media about the former owner, Danko Koncar allegedly shifting billions of the company’s profit offshore," Numsa said.

The union said that the management of Samancor should have listened to workers earlier. "Perhaps they could have avoided this Public Relations nightmare, by simply being upfront about the situation with workers," Numsa said.

The unions said that it would not be able to participate in the ordinary meeting of the trust with members and therefore its questions would not be answered. 

"We also want Samancor to confirm exactly when the independent forensic investigation into profit shifting will begin? At the meeting last Monday, they promised that the investigation would begin within the week but so far, no detail on this has been forthcoming," Numsa said.

The union said it would seek legal advise on the way forward to establish what recourse it had to force the trust to disclose its financial statements. 

"A meeting with the working group and the management of Samancor has been set up for Friday 1 November," Numsa said.