The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has threatened festive-season prison disruptions unless 127 dismissed correctional officials are reinstated.
”We will be mobilising our members to fight these unlawful dismissals,” Popcru secretary general Abbey Witbooi said on Thursday.
He was speaking after the Department of Correctional Services confirmed the dismissals of Modderbee prison officials who were axed during an illegal strike in July.
Their actions had compromised prison security and violated inmates’ rights as well as the legal ban on protected strikes or labour unrest in essential services, the department said.
A decision is still pending on the fate of another three officials who participated in the ”sporadic and unlawful activities” at correctional centres in Gauteng and other provinces on the weekend of July 4.
The department said striking officials at Modderbee had ”defiantly” ignored ultimatums to disengage and abide by the dispute-resolution procedures in place.
”The dismissals were a last resort to prevent chaos and disorder in [the] high-security environments that the correctional centres are,” said Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Bheki Manzini.
Popcru has learnt of the decision with ”great regret”, said Witbooi.
The department has acted unilaterally, ahead of a determination on the matter by Minister of Correctional Services Ngconde Balfour, who is being advised on it by a joint technical committee.
Witbooi said officials have publicly acknowledged they were wrong.
”Whilst we were patient with the department in an attempt to find a solution to this problem, they have stabbed us in the back by taking this irresponsible decision to dismiss innocent workers,” he said.
Popcru has called an urgent meeting of its national executive committee at its head office in Johannesburg on Friday to determine the form its fight against the dismissals will take, said national spokesperson Pat Ntsobi. — Sapa