9 May, 2011
Glen Mpufane of South Africa officially took up duties as ICEM’s Mining and Diamond, Gems, Ornament, and Jewellery Production (DGOJP) officer on 2 May. He comes to the ICEM after a long career in South Africa’s trade union movement preceded by 18 years of work in the apartheid-era gold mining industry.
“We are privileged to bring a person who not only has depth and knowledge of the mining industry, but one who displays great activism as a trade unionist,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda.
Mpufane, 52, is a native of Daveyton in Gauteng province, and worked for Ergo mining at the Brakpan mine, then an AngloAmerican and later an AngloGold concession. He worked as a fitter mechanic and helped form the Ergo Branch of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in 1982.
New ICEM Mining/DGOJP Officer, Glen Mpufane
He served as a shop steward, health and safety secretary, branch chairman, and then full-time health and safety steward for the branch. He also served as NUM regional secretary for health and safety, before taking a position at NUM in 2000 in health and safety. In 2004, he was named International Department Head for the NUM, a post he held until 2010.
He worked as head of Secretariat for ICEM South Africa affiliate Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) for six months in 2010-11, prior to coming to Geneva to join the ICEM.
“There are huge challenges in mining, not the least is safety and health,” said Mpufane. “We have many challenges, including the challenge to deliver decent collective agreements to mineworkers.”
Mpufane is married with four children, the youngest, Amo, is 16 months old.