AUT: 570,000 march in mass public sector strike in South Af

["FRANCO BARCHIESI" <029FRB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Independent Online
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Strike of 570 000 disciplined and calm


Strike of 570 000 disciplined and calm

August 24 1999 at 09:37PM


Eddie Jayiya, Matthew Burbidge and Staff Reporters

In a show of strength, about 570 000 public servants throughout the
country braved cold weather on Tuesday to protest against the
government's unilateral implementation of its final wage offer.

Addressing a media conference, National Education, Health and Allied
Workers' Union president Vusi Nhlapo said about 570 000 workers had
responded to the call to march and had engaged in the protest action in a
remarkable and disciplined manner.

"Our demand on an inflation-related increase remains. The increase
is important in redressing the apartheid wage gap. We reiterate the
reasonable demand for the employer to go back to the negotiation
table with an open mind, so that we are able to resolve the
dispute," he said.

At the same conference, Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union
president Zizamele Cebekhulu confirmed that police and Correctional
Service workers took part in the strike.

He added that only members from murder-and-robbery and anti-hijack units
were withdrawn from the protest.

 Despite biting cold wind and rain in several places, public servants
in all the provinces took to the streets to demand the Government's
return to the negotiation table.

All the marches went ahead without incident.

About 50 000 protesters marched from Montshiwa Stadium to the
legislature in Mmabatho, North West.

One of the organisers, Dave Sefanyetso, said workers in North West
were angry and they had mandated the unions to consider a national
strike if the Government did not respond.

In KwaZulu-Natal, 45 000 public servants from Ulundi, Nongoma,
Newcastle, Vryheid, Port Shepstone and Pietermaritzburg converged at the
Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban to march to the Durban City Hall.

The turnout in Northern Province, estimated at 50 000, was a clear
indication to the Government that workers wanted better salaries,
said Ta'hir Maepa, an organiser.

He said the meeting on Friday of the 12 unions would be crucial to
the process.

Free State march spokesperson, Phuthego Mosunkuthu, said more than 18 000
public servants marched to the legislature in Bloemfontein to present a memo
to Premier Winkie Direko.

In Cape Town, Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine
Fraser-Moleketi, accompanied by Health Minister Manto
Tshabalala-Msimang and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, received a
memo on behalf of President Mbeki.

Meanwhile, the strike apparently did not cause too many delays in
the justice system, as most of the awaiting-trial prisoners in
Johannesburg and Pretoria were taken to court.

But those prisoners who had been sentenced - but still faced further
charges - had to stay in their cells, according to Rudi Potgieter,
national correctional services spokesperson.

The decision not to take these prisoners to court was apparently due
to staff shortages at prisons.

Potgieter said about 250 staff members at Johannesburg prison did
not turn up for work, from a total of 1 178 staff members. Potgieter
added that, as far as he knew, the strike would not curtail the hour
of recreation that prisoners' were entitled to.

Johannesburg police spokesperson, Inspector Mary
Martins-Engelbrecht, said most policemen had been too busy to attend the
planned lunch-hour picket.

Police spokespersons on the North, West and East Rand and in Soweto said all
their members had arrived at work and had not participated in the planned
lunch-hour picket.

* The strike by public servants was felt at the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission's amnesty hearings in Pretoria on Tuesday, when
Eugene de Kock failed to attend the proceedings because there were no
warders to transport him.

According to TRC spokesperson Mbulelo Sompetha, authorities at
Pretoria Central Prison had informed the commission that De Kock,
serving a prison term there, could not be brought to the hearings.

De Kock is currently applying for amnesty for the killing of five
ANC activists in Nelspruit in 1992.







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