Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Lodged by the South African National Defence Union (Sandu), the court ruling came on the eve of planned action meant to push for a negotiated salary increase.

The three-day protests, which started yesterday, were scheduled for Kimberley, Polokwane and Bisho. Sandu was also planning to picket army headquarters in Pretoria.

The union's court application followed an order by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) denying leave to members planning to take part in protests.

Sandu had argued that this infringed on members' right to engage in legal marches.

However, the SANDF maintained the order applied only to a similar protest over salaries two weeks ago.

It argued this was not general policy in the military but was issued only by the infantry division.

Granting the interdict, Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said the order could not be used as the sole basis to deny members leave in the future.

"It would be unconstitutional to refuse members of Sandu the right to participate in legal protests," he said.

Sandu acting national secretary Pikkie Greeff told Business Day the union was unhappy about an "imposed" salary increment of 7,5%.

Instead, it wanted to engage the military in negotiations for a 19% salary adjustment.

Since 2001, Sandu had engaged the SANDF in collective bargaining negotiations.

But Greeff said that the military had recently "unilaterally" withdrawn from negotiations.

Defence department spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi denied this, saying Sandu was represented at a military bargaining council (MBC) meeting four months ago.

"Before, during or after this meeting, Sandu never tabled the issue of a 19% salary raise with the MBC," Mkhwanazi said.

In addition, he said, while the MBC constitution required equal representation of three members from the employer and a similar number from unions, Sandu was represented by seven members and could not decide on the required three.

Mkhwananzi said Sandu had also not provided proof that it still met the mandatory threshold of 15000 members required before a union could participate in MBC meetings.

"At any given time, Sandu has the privilege to request for a MBC meeting to, amongst others, provide proof of such membership, as well as their nominated three representatives," Mkhwanazi said.

The tussle between Sandu and the defence department is the latest skirmish in a long-running dispute.

Several court cases have resulted, culminating in a Constitutional Court judgment six months ago which, among other things, prohibited the SANDF from imposing preconditions for bargaining or withdrawing unilaterally from the MBC.

The court also gave the SANDF the right to "justifiably" limit union activities in instances where such activities could interfere with the military's obligations of protecting the country.

However, the Constitutional Court judgment ruled that provided discipline and order were observed, the SANDF could not forbid non-uniformed soldiers from assembling or picketing as private citizens.