Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Municipal workers, soldiers and even pupils are taking to the streets as the public servants strike continues through its second week.

Today municipal workers downed tools in solidarity with public servants who have been on strike since June 1.

Yesterday, a handful of soldiers protested outside parliament. The 10 SA Security Forces Union members, who belong to the SANDF, the Navy and the SA Medical Health Services, were due to meet Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota last night.

The union’s acting provincial secretary, Bhekinkosi Mvovo, said defence force members also planned to join today’s nationwide protest.

“We want the ministry of defence to stop using soldiers as replacement workers.

“We believe that workers are fighting a legal and just cause. South Africa is the only country where the defence force gets paid less than the police,” he said.

Yesterday about 200 angry high school pupils from Nyan-ga, Gugulethu and Crossroads converged on Cape Town station en route to the Education Department offices.

They were stopped by police and were later met by Education MEC Cameron Dugmore.

Western Cape Education spokesman Gert Witbooi said the department suspected the pupils were being incited by “a certain union”.

Witbooi said the pupils were demanding a resolution to the strike because they wanted to write exams

“The learners threatened to disrupt other schools that were writing exams.

“They were saying that if they can’t write exams, no-one will,” said Witbooi.

“(Dugmore) indicated that they will write exams after the strike.”

Witbooi said schools had been advised to continue with exams where possible. If schools were in possession of exam scripts, they were en-couraged to find parent and governing body members to invigilate exams.

Fish Hoek High School principal Mike Edwards said the school had postponed today’s exam to a yet undetermined date.