14 June, 2012
Senzeni Zokwana
Vice-President
Senzeni Zokwana was elected as Vice-President of IndustriALL Global Union at its founding Congress on 19 June 2012.
Senzeni Zokwana is the President of the powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of South Africa and began his trade union activism in 1980 in apartheid-era South Africa at the President Steyn gold mine in the Free State.
He was first a shift overseer on safety matters and in 1995 he joined the NUM staff as a Safety Officer, after proving himself a forceful advocate of modern mine safety techniques.
In 2000, he was elected President of the 300,000-member NUM and besides his leading global role today on mine safety matters, he is an outspoken anti-poverty campaigner throughout Africa.
Senzeni was first elected as President of the International Chemical, Energy and Mine Workers' Federation (ICEM) at a special election in October 2005 and re-elected in November 2011.