Call100
It is entirely reasonable to assume that union officials are entirely pure in their motives and actions.There has to be trust or a union is a pointless waste of time. However, it is also reasonable that union accounts are open and available for public scrutiny, it is also reasonable to expect that the accounts are audited by professional accountants and the audit reports are freely available. Any attempt to hide accounts or any failure to have them audited by professionals leads people to a suspicion that there is something to hide.
I do not accuse any BASSA member of any financial mischief. The lack of freely available information and seemingly deliberate failure to publish accounts and audit reports compiled by a professional independent accountant could lead the cynical to think that someone in the BASSA leadership does have something to hide.
Perception is everything here, the perception that BASSA has something to hide, or has some shady financial arrangements is perpetuated by a failure to clarify their finances. The defence that they are innocent and don't have to prove their honesty will not wash, if they are innocent why hide the evidence? It is the perception of something hidden equalling misdeeds that is corrosive. This perception can be easily dispelled but BASSA must come clean to do this.