As the country braces itself for a mass public-sector protest action on Wednesday, government and union negotiators moved closer to clinching a deal in the wage talks. Talks between the two parties at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council in Centurion continued well into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Following another impasse in the public service wage talks, independent mediators on Sunday came up with their own proposal of what a comprehensive wage offer should look like. Mediators Charles Nupen and Meshack Ravuku drew up a document which was handed to government and union negotiators late on Sunday night.
Armed soldiers and police were deployed at schools and hospitals around the country on Friday as the government flexed its muscles to rein in striking public servants. Casspirs off-loaded troops wearing bullet-proof vests and armed with R4 automatic rifles to join police keeping watch at the Kalafong Hospital.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair ensured that Africa was firmly on the agenda of the international community during his time in office, President Thabo Mbeki said on Friday. The two leaders met at the Union Buildings in Pretoria as part of Blair’s farewell tour to Africa.
Friday’s public-service strike is set to go ahead after the government and unions failed to reach agreement on wage increases after two days of talks in Pretoria. Last-minute talks called by the government broke down in the early hours of Wednesday morning at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council.
Technical committees continued negotiations throughout Monday night in an attempt to resolve the impasse between public-sector unions and government on wage negotiations. On Monday the talks almost collapsed when the government said it would refer its dispute with essential-service workers to arbitration.
Tony Leon on Saturday delivered his last speech as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), predicting that the party would one day bring about a new government in South Africa. In an emotionally charged session of the party’s federal congress in Midrand, he thanked supporters for the ”incredible journey” they had allowed him to take in heading the DA.
South Africa’s soap-opera wars were pushed aside as actors from opposing television soaps 7de Laan and Binnelanders took hands in an anti-crime march to the government’s Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday. They were joined by actors from various stage plays, artists and singers.
The Pretoria News will definitely be published and be on the streets on time on Thursday, said acting editor Zingisa Mkhuma on Wednesday night following a hostage drama during which eight newspaper advertising staff were taken hostage and a police officer was shot and injured.
The United States’s principal deputy undersecretary for defence, Ryan Henry, met South African government officials on Tuesday to inform them of plans for the US military’s new Africa command. Henry is on an African tour to convince governments on the continent that there is nothing sinister about the proposed command.