[Sickening really. I was chatting to a black woman at a til yesterday. She complained about the weather forecasts always being wrong. Then she said she likes to keep up to date with current affairs. Then she said it was annoying to see how our tax money was being wasted by the Govt and then the Govt comes back to increase our taxes. "That's so that they can buy themselves new Mercedes Benz's", I said. Source Url: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2010/0728/South-Africa-strike-Nearly-1-million-government-workers-set-to-take-actionSouth Africa Shocking Mega strike: Nearly 1 million government workers set to take action
The waste of tax money in this country knows no bounds. The entire tax base of this country of perhaps 50+ million people is probably no more than about 4.5 million workers. The parasites and money-wasters want more money from those of us who have to carve it out of business opportunities which are becoming ever harder to come by. Jan]
More than 900,000 South African government workers will go on strike starting on Aug. 10 to demand an 8.6 percent wage increase.
It's now official: More than 900,000 South African government employees will go on a strike beginning Aug. 10.
The strike will include teachers, nurses, immigration officers, Home Affairs ministry clerks, and customs officials in an industrial action that some worry could be as bad as the 2007 strike, which brought all government departments to a standstill.
"We have now come to a firm conclusion that we will go on strike," said Fikile Slovo Majola, the secretary-general of the National Education, Health, & Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU). "As part of the preparations, we will start with a build-up program of pickets, marches, and demonstrations. We will have two national marches in Pretoria and Cape Town on Tuesday the 10th of August."
The government workers are demanding an 8.6 percent wage increase and a 1,000 rand ($137) housing subsidy while the government is insisting their 6.5 percent offer is enough.
Speaking at the same function, South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) secretary-general, Mugwena Maluleke, said the 245,000-member group would join the strike.
"SADTU has resolved to embark on a strike," said Maluleke. "All the provinces overwhelmingly rejected the 6.5 percent offer ... and showed strong support for the strike."
He said the teachers tried their best to avert the strike by looking for an amicable solution.
"We are committing ourselves to being available to engage with the employer for 24 hours and seven days a week but our pleas were not taken seriously," said Maluleke.
The impact of the strikes will be "severe," says South African businessman and former World Bank economist, Mutumwa Mawere. "Imagine what would happen if a teacher stops going to school? Children will be sidelined. This is a very unfortunate scenario."
Posted By: Jan
AfricanCrisis Webmaster
Author of: Government by Deception
“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
(George Orwell)
My all time favourite movie quote is from the Dwarf in Lord of the Rings: "Certainty of death, small chance of success... what are we waiting for?"
Monday, 9 August 2010
Date Posted: Sunday 08-Aug-2010
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