Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

A heavy police contingent – backed by members of the SA National Defence Force – were deployed at Joburg hospitals today as the public service strike entered its eighth day.

In Pretoria, the ministers of public service and administration, safety and security and defence were jeered by a group of about 50 strikers when they arrived at the hard-hit Kalafong Hospital, where they were to hold an emergency meeting.

At Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital, a scuffle broke out between a crowd of about 200 protesters and police as the workers were locked out.

The strikers – who included some elderly men and women – offered little resistance when pushed off the hospital premises.

About five security guards stationed just in front of the emergency unit said only emergency cases were being admitted.

An ambulance and a white van were turned away at the gate, while protesters sang.

At Johannesburg Hospital, police instructed protesters, who were blocking the exit points, to move away.

No incidents of violence were reported.

Gauteng Police Commissioner Perumal Naidoo, who visited the hospital this morning, said he would be visiting all the provincial hospitals to monitor the situation.

Ministers Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Charles Nqakula and Mosiuoa Lekota and National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi held an emergency meeting at Kalafong today.

After the meeting they toured the hospital, where services have been severely disrupted since last Friday.

A decision was made yesterday that troops would be deployed at hospitals and schools to ensure the safety of non-striking staff and the public.

SANDF spokesperson Sam Mkhwanazi confirmed that soldiers had been deployed to several Gauteng schools “in support of the police” but he refused to give further details.

“As a matter of course, the SANDF does not discuss issues of deployment and missions,” he said, adding that about 2 200 soldiers had been deployed to schools and hospitals countrywide.

Schools, meanwhile, have appeared to clam up with regards to the situation on the ground.

Several principals told The Star either that they had been instructed not to speak to the media or that they were afraid to give out any details that could “invite intimidation”.

Those that did speak out said parents had by and large decided to keep their children at home.

Some high schools told The Star that they were still relying on private security guards to assure their safety, and that examination timetables had been disrupted in several schools because of non-attendance.

The Gauteng Department of Education’s spokesperson Kate Bapela told The Star this morning that – in the wake of intimidations and threats to non-striking school employees by those on strike – the department had decided that schools’ managers, in consultation with their governing bodies, should assess the situation with a view to deciding whether they should close schools or not.

While Public Service and Administration Minister Fraser-Moleketi still maintains that the public service workers’ demand for a 12% wage increase is “unaffordable”, workers at Chris Hani-Baragwanath yesterday promised Cosatu leader Zwelinzima Vavi that they would bring the public service to a halt if their demands were not met.

Vavi visited the hospital to brief striking workers on developments in negotiations with the government, telling them they had no option but to continue to withdraw their labour.

“The strike will continue over the weekend, with all the essential services now joining in,” he said.

The Johannesburg Deeds Registry office has also been hit hard by the strike – as well as an armed robbery.

Hundreds of mostly Nehawu (National Education Health and Allied Workers Union) and Sadtu (South African Democratic Teachers’ Union) workers were expected to march to Johannesburg Hospital later today to picket to intensify their protest action.