South African government officials met with striking workers unions yesterday after President Jacob Zuma called for further negotiations in an attempt to end a national strike, in its 13th day Monday.
“It is ordinary, poor people who are suffering. We can’t allow the strike to go on unabated,” Zuma said according to a Reuters report. Since the beginning of the strike the government has not changed its offer of a 7 percent pay increase and a 700 rand (US$75) housing allowance.
Zuma urged both sides to come to a solution and put the interests of the country first.
The government gave no indication before the 6 p.m. meeting whether it would change its wage offer.
The strike by 1.3 million South African government workers has greatly impacted public services in the country, affecting the nation’s poor most severely.
One of the most urgent problems is hospital care. Military personnel have been deployed in the larger hospitals and volunteers are also filling in for striking doctors and nurses, but the number of medical workers has been insufficient to meet patients’ basic needs in some medical centers. Patients with contagious diseases like tuberculosis have been sent home and some pregnant women have had to travel far distances to find a place at over capacity clinics where they give birth on the floor or in cars outside the hospital.
“I am very angry, the strike is still continuing. We are the victims of it,” a 30-year-old new mother just called Katlego, told a Dutch reporter. Katlego had just given birth to a healthy daughter after traveling 75 miles to a clinic.
Some hospital personnel who have continued to work in defiance of the strike have been intimidated and blocked from entering medical centers by strikers outside. South Africa’s Minister of Health Aaron Motsoalaedi, 10 days ago, called these hospital disruptions ’murder,' according to South African News 24.
The unions are asking for 8.6 percent wage increase and a housing allowance of 1,000 rand (US$136). The government had offered them a 7 percent increase and a and a 700 rand (US$75) housing allowance.
The strike has also shut schools and High Court officials in Cape Town reported that criminal trials have had to be postponed while interpreters participate in the strike.
President Jacob Zuma returned on Friday from a trip to China only to find himself under heavy criticism from Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the main union, and other unions who raised questions about his ability to lead the country.
Zuma came into office with the backing of COSATU and the votes of many poor South Africans on promises of greater wealth and more welfare.
“It is ordinary, poor people who are suffering. We can’t allow the strike to go on unabated,” Zuma said according to a Reuters report. Since the beginning of the strike the government has not changed its offer of a 7 percent pay increase and a 700 rand (US$75) housing allowance.
Zuma urged both sides to come to a solution and put the interests of the country first.
The government gave no indication before the 6 p.m. meeting whether it would change its wage offer.
The strike by 1.3 million South African government workers has greatly impacted public services in the country, affecting the nation’s poor most severely.
One of the most urgent problems is hospital care. Military personnel have been deployed in the larger hospitals and volunteers are also filling in for striking doctors and nurses, but the number of medical workers has been insufficient to meet patients’ basic needs in some medical centers. Patients with contagious diseases like tuberculosis have been sent home and some pregnant women have had to travel far distances to find a place at over capacity clinics where they give birth on the floor or in cars outside the hospital.
“I am very angry, the strike is still continuing. We are the victims of it,” a 30-year-old new mother just called Katlego, told a Dutch reporter. Katlego had just given birth to a healthy daughter after traveling 75 miles to a clinic.
Some hospital personnel who have continued to work in defiance of the strike have been intimidated and blocked from entering medical centers by strikers outside. South Africa’s Minister of Health Aaron Motsoalaedi, 10 days ago, called these hospital disruptions ’murder,' according to South African News 24.
The unions are asking for 8.6 percent wage increase and a housing allowance of 1,000 rand (US$136). The government had offered them a 7 percent increase and a and a 700 rand (US$75) housing allowance.
The strike has also shut schools and High Court officials in Cape Town reported that criminal trials have had to be postponed while interpreters participate in the strike.
President Jacob Zuma returned on Friday from a trip to China only to find himself under heavy criticism from Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the main union, and other unions who raised questions about his ability to lead the country.
Zuma came into office with the backing of COSATU and the votes of many poor South Africans on promises of greater wealth and more welfare.
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