No end in sight for public sector strike

Cosatu's Central Executive Committee has pledged its total support for the strike

There is still no end in sight to the ongoing national public sector strike. A joint labour caucus to discuss labour's new wage proposal has failed to find a resolution and is expected to reconvene tomorrow.

A decision to revise labour's 12% pay demand was made after all trade unions rejected government's 6.5% pay offer. Labour is expected to meet with the employer at the earliest on Friday. Cosatu's Central Executive Committee has pledged its total support for the strike.

Meanwhile, Cameron Dugmore, the Western Cape education minister, has asked the national department of education to liaise with tertiary institutions over exam problems raised by the teachers' strike. Many high schools in the Western Cape province have not yet begun their June examinations. These exams are important, especially for matriculants to apply for tertiary education next year. Dugmore says learners should not panic, as they are sorting out the problem.

KZN mid-year exams postponed indefinitely
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) education department has postponed the writing of mid-year examinations until after the public servants' strike. This includes all high schools, FET colleges and ABET learning centres.

The decision follows disruptions of examinations, and intimidation of teachers and learners in some schools. Ina Cronje, the education MEC, says it is important for learners to write their exams under safe conditions. She has urged learners to use the opportunity to study hard in preparation for the exams.

"At the moment the environment is not conducive to writing examinations. We don't want to expose our young people to unnecessary risks and anxiety, and therefore we have taken the unprecedented step of postponing exams until after the strike," said Cronje.

The Free State earlier postponed its matriculants' mid-year exams because of the strike. Officials there say the exams will probably be held next term. In other provinces, exams have yet to get under way in many schools.

Striking workers block city entrance
Thousands of striking Sadtu and National Teachers Union members blocked the entrance to the Madadeni Township, near Newcastle in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Thulani Mahaye, the chairperson of Sadtu in the area, says members of the two organisations marched to the local hospital and then to the local police station.

Meanwhile, the South African Council of Churches has joined a march by public servants in the Limpopo capital, Polokwane. The clerics have vowed to support the strikers until their demands are met.