Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Durban High Court has dismissed the National Union of Mineworkers’ (NUM) bid to intervene in Optimum Coal’s spat over export allocation with the Richards Bay Coal Terminal.
The union had launched an urgent application to intervene as third in the main dispute between Optimum Coal and Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), arguing that its members, who are employed by mining contractors – would be adversely impacted by Optimum’s inability to export coal through the terminal.
Pending the determination of the main application, the NUM also sought interim relief in the form of an interdict to prevent RBCT from withholding Optimum’s use of the coal terminal in Richards Bay for the purpose of exporting coal.
In December last year, RBCT informed Optimum that a temporary agreement to allow its use of the export entitlement would be cancelled, effective from 31 January 2023.
One of the main reasons is that the export entitlement needs to be used for the benefit of Optimum. Instead, as highlighted by Optimum’s court-appointed curator, contract miners and marketers are making billions by mining Optimum coal and using the Optimum allocation at RBCT to sell it into buoyant export markets.
In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, the court dismissed the union’s application with costs.
The judgment found NUM’s assertion – that its members would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an interdict – to be disputable.
Notably, the court said the union failed to address RBCTs argument that significant volumes of Optimum coal were already not being channelled through the terminal.
The judgment said NUM’s founding papers were, at best, “thin” when dealing with the issue of urgency and had ultimately failed to make out a case in this regard.
As reported by News24 last month, the NUM chairperson for the Highveld Region denied the union was involved in the court proceedings, claiming that the union’s branch secretary, Richard Mguzulu, was acting without NUM’s support.
NUM’s national general secretary, William Mabapa, subsequently signed a letter authorising Mguzulu and his lawyers to act on behalf of the union in Optimum court proceedings. The Durban High Court accepted this proof of authority.
The Optimum Coal Mine and Terminal have been in business rescue since 2018. Last year the National Prosecuting Authority obtained a preservation order over the assets, and it has since applied for them to be forfeited to the state.
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