FRIDAY, 2.30PM
SEVERAL thousand marchers gathered outside the gates of Parliament shortly before noon on Friday to present a memorandum to an official of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki’s office.
The protesters, all members of public servants’ sector unions affiliated to the Congress of SA Trade Unions, marched peacefully to Parliament through the streets of Cape Town under the combined banners of Cosatu, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union, and the SA Democratic Teachers Union.
Marchers are demanding transformation of the public service, immediate implementation of affirmative action, a minimum wage of R1 750 per month, manageable class sizes and work loads for teachers, free, quality public education, and the closing of the apartheid wage gap.