Disgruntled+guards+go+on+the+rampage,+The+Star

The Star, May 02, 2006 //Edition 2//
=Disgruntled guards go on the rampage=


 * Babalo Ndenze and Andy Shlensky**

Cosatu was forced to abandon its May Day rally and call in the police to deal with hundreds of its own striking security guard members who violently disrupted proceedings.

And after causing mayhem at the rally at Cape Town's Good Hope Centre yesterday, the strikers rampaged through city centre streets, battling police, looting from vendors and damaging property.

They are believed to be members of the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union.

The violence came a day after Satawu threatened legal action against members who continued to defy the union's call for non-violence.

On Thursday, employers were granted a Labour Court interdict against Satawu, barring its members from intimidating, assaulting and harassing non-striking workers and the public in general.

Satawu undertook to comply.

"We are committed to taking the culprits to task," said Satawu national media officer Ronnie Mamba at the time.

Yet, at the start of the May Day activities, Satawu strikers chased a National Congress of Trade Unions speaker from the stage.

Loudspeakers were torn down as some strikers, carrying knobkerries and other weapons, swarmed onto the stage. Singing struggle songs, they carried an array of placards calling on Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana to intervene in the dispute.

They also crudely disparaged Cape Town mayor Helen Zille.

Placards read "Mdladlana, you sellout", "Workers in jail for 11%, where are you, labour minister?", "Zille is a casual Meyer (sic) in SA" and "Zille and (Tony) Leon = Boeremag".

As the violence by the striking guards threatened to get out of hand, Cosatu leaders scurried around and could be heard calling for police to be called to intervene.

Asked about this last night, Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich denied they had called the police.

After disrupting the rally, demonstrators hit the streets peacefully, marching down Kaizersgracht Street in their hundreds.

Then there was chaos as they ran through the Grand Parade, grabbing food and sweets from street vendors. Police used pepper spray to scatter them but were pelted with avocados and fruit looted from a bus station vendor.

The crowd fled to the train station, where police used rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas to disperse them. Some ran to the station, where glass was broken at kiosks and some arrests were made.

Satawu guards are demanding an 11% increase while 14 other unions in the sector have accepted 8,3%. This angered Satawu members as they were not part of the agreement.

Ehrenreich said the strikers were protesting because "they want their issue addressed.

"They've been striking for a month; there's nothing they're getting; they're desperate.

"People have no food and their children are suffering. We need to get them that 11% now.

"What is clear is that the security guards are angry and frustrated. But there is no justifying the violence and it must be condemned."

Satawu regional secretary Evan Abrahams said their protest had not been directed at Cosatu.

"But we were disappointed to find that there was celebrating when we have been on strike for weeks.

"The way things happened today was unfortunate, but it was a way for us to express our anger at an unjust system.

"The bosses are sitting in their Camps Bay and Sandton homes but they refuse to come to the table to end this strike.

"They don't care about the workers, they don't care about black people. (The guards) are treated like animals."

Abrahams told the strikers he understood that they were "angry and hungry" but called on them to be calm.

"They still want to destroy your spirit. But they (employers) are being forced to return to the negotiating table.

"They are trying to frustrate you, comrades. You are facing a tough, tough situation. Some of you believe that no one is standing with us, but the South African Communist Party and Cosatu are standing with you."

Abrahams added that employer associations had agreed to return to negotiations with the union this week.

"There is hope, comrades."

Satawu striker Nancy Tukela said: "We can't stop until we get that 11%. Mdladlana said the police must beat us, shoot us, whatever, but this is a free country and we must keep doing what we need to do to protect ourselves."

Mdladlana's spokesperson, Mokgadi Pela, said the minister would not be pressured by Satawu into taking part in negotiations.

"No amount of intimidation will get (Mdladlana) to join negotiations. The minister does not belong at the negotiating table, so we stand by our view."

He said section 150 of the Labour Relations Act had empowered commissions to mediate such disputes.

"(Mdladlana) has full confidence in the ability of the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) to resolve this.

"If he intervenes he will be undermining the CCMA as a public entity."

Last night, police spokesperson Bernadine Steyn said that between 2 500 and 3 000 security officials took part in the walk to the station.

A reserve sergeant and a sergeant were hit by fruit, and a reserve captain was hit by a brick which damaged his cellphone and radio.

Six people aged between 18 and 35 were arrested on public violence charges.


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3226599**

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