PSA: Shabangu's court bid against strike a 'fallacy'
The Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA) says the court bid by Social Development Minister Susan Shabangu to stop a strike, is based on a mistaken belief.
The PSA believes Shabangu is clutching at straws in her attempt to stop a strike by employees of the South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA).
The court application in the Labour Court in Johannesburg will resume on Wednesday after the presiding officer requested evidence on whether the striking workers fall under essential services.
But the PSA's Tahir Maepa believes the arguments presented by government fall short of judicial standards.
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Maepa says the contention is whether the employees are public servants which render them unable to strike after a wage deal was reached by the majority unions in the sector last month.
"It is a fallacy that they belong to the public service.It is just a matter of convenience - there is no factual basis to allay that they are part of the public service. But if they want to go back to the public service they must say so, they must amend the legislation because we will be more than happy to bring them back to the public service."
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SASSA has meanwhile been experiencing a gulf of technical glitches, resulting in a delay of the payments of social grants.
Maepa denied that the problems are caused by the strike action.