Parliament secures court interdict against strike

“We have been forced then today to go to court to obtain an interdict, which we secured,” the Secretary of Parliament, Gengezi Mgidlana told a media briefing after police clashed with protesters on the steps of the Old Assembly wing earlier in the day.

“It interdicts members of Nehawu from engaging in an illegal action and doing so on the premises of Parliament and in such a way that disrupts the work of committees … the general business of Parliament,” Mgidlana added.

“We are hoping that members of Nehawu as law-abiding citizens will heed the advice of the court.”

The interim interdict gives a return date of November 27 when Nehawu should show cause as to why the court should not issue a permanent order declaring the strike illegal, and prohibiting its members from occupying any parliamentary chambers and disrupting the work of the legislature.

Mgidlana said he would discuss the terms of the interdict with Nehawu (National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union) respresentatives at a meeting later on Wednesday evening.

In scenes reminiscent of those in late October when students protested at Parliament against university fee increases, police in riot gear on Wednesday fired stun grenades at hundreds of staff protesting in the precinct for better employment conditions.

Several carried posters reading “Mgidlana must fall”.

The protesters had also briefly swept into portfolio committee meetings, singing protests songs, and this, Mgidlana said, lead to four meetings being abandoned.

He told reporters the instruction to call police into Parliament to disperse the protesters had come from Speaker Baleka Mbete and the chairwoman of the National Council of Provinces, Thandi Modise. Police dragged away several protesters in handcuffs but Mgidlana said so far no criminal charges had been brought against any of them.

It was the second night in a row Parliamentary management was scheduled to meet with Nehawu to settle the labour dispute that agreements, reached in March and June, failed to resolve.

“I will continue to have those conversations with them as I move out of this briefing,” Mgidlana said.

He confirmed that Parliament is relying on a section of the Powers and Privileges Act that makes it illegal to hinder members in their work, and that the business of the legislature is an essential service, which means that in terms of the Labour Relations Act staff may not go on strike.

Parliamentary management sought a fresh interdict despite informing Nehawu on Tuesday that one obtained in 2010 still applied and prohibited its members from striking.

The chairman of the parliamentary branch of the union, Sthembiso Tembe, reiterated on Wednesday that its members, who number roughly 970, would continue the protests until their demands for better wages and pension benefits, as well an end to outsourcing of services, were met.

They are also demanding that the controversial repetition of staff’s security vetting be stopped.