Joseph Mathunjwa (born 26 May 1965) is the head of the

Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) was formed in Mpumalanga, South Africa, in 1998 as a breakaway faction of the COSATU-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). It was formally registered as a union in 2001. Acc ...

(AMCU). Mathunjwa was born in Amathikulu, northern

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, South Africa and his first job was as a Laboratory Attendant in 1986 at Rand Coal where he earned between R300 and R400 a month. His interest in

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s came when he saw people being retrenched without companies making an effort to save their jobs, The first retrenchment that he fought through the

Labour Court A labor court (or labour court or industrial tribunal) is a governmental judiciary body which rules on labor or employment-related matters and disputes. In a number of countries, labor cases are often taken to separate national labor high courts. O ...

was at

BHP Billiton BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian Multinational corporation, multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Propri ...

in 2005 and he won the case that was him and AMCU's starting point In August 2022, during a speech Mathunjwa said that South Africa was more functional during

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

under white people, than it currently is.

Personal life

Mathunjwa is a Christian and attends in the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

hence he can play the trumpet and can also read music. He is a good singer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathunjwa, Joseph Josmal 1965 births Living people People from uMlalazi Local Municipality Zulu people Congress of South African Trade Unions South African trade unionists South African activists