The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) has been fined R500 000 by the Labour Court in Johannesburg after last year’s violent and destructive security-guard strike, the Security Services Employers’ Organisation (SSEO) said on Thursday.
”The bottom line is, our law allows strikes, everyone has a right to participate, but it’s not their right to damage public and private property and behave violently,” said SSEO chairperson Kevin Derrick.
Satawu was found to be in contempt of court after the three-month-long strike last year.
The fine of R500 000 was suspended for five years.
Employers had obtained two interdicts during the strike to protect non-striking workers and prevent the destruction of property. The interdicts were subsequently used to hold Satawu in contempt after the industrial action took an ugly turn. Striking workers ran amok during protest marches in the streets of Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Derrick said the ruling enables people whose property was destroyed during the protests to institute claims against Satawu.
A number of non-striking guards were slain in brutal ways. One was found hanging from a tree, three were tied with handcuffs and electrical wires and dumped in an East Rand field, and another was hacked to death with pangas.
It was believed the guards’ deaths were related to the strike.
Satawu was not immediately available for comment. — Sapa