GOVERNMENT UNLEASHES TERROR AFTER IT IS CAUGHT NAPPING

NEHAWU condemns the war talk and threats by the ministers who have threatened to deal with our members who are on strike by unleashing the state security machinery against them. It is unfortunate that the Minister of Defence, Ms. Lindiwe Sisulu has never heard of a saying that, "You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership". It is regrettable to see the government that brought hope and promised so much to the poor people of South Africa imploding and eating itself from within.

The lies that have been fed to the public recently should worry all South Africans because the message that is coming out loud and clear is that government cannot be trusted. The reports and images of police officers shooting at mothers and dragging them in front of TV cameras for the whole world to see is a sign of a panicking and confused government that has been exposed and is now lashing out.

State prosecutors giving instructions that our members be denied bails is a sign of how state institutions are being abused by those in power to coerce and suppress the public. This also is a reminder to all of us that the limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress and if we are not careful we will return back to the bad old days of the army and police being unleashed on the civilian population.

Government has been caught napping and does not know how to deal with the fact that its own employees are unhappy with the shoddy handling of their wage negotiations and the hostile treatment they have received. The mobilization of the state security machinery exposes a government that has got no vision and confidence in its own ability to solve the most basic of employer-employee disputes.

NEHAWU strongly condemns the isolated and uncalled for incidences of violence and intimidation of the non striking employees and the members of the public. Ours is a legitimate strike and we do not condone actions of hooliganism against anyone.

Government needs to shoulder the blame and take full responsibility for what is happening because the spurious and antagonistic statements from their senior officials are unproductive and provocative. The brutality of the police officers has fuelled confrontations by making workers angry and frustrated. This is a legal strike and there is no need for the police to break the picket lines and assault striking workers without provocation. Our members are aware that they need to defend our right to bargain because if we lose that right we will be left with only one option which is to beg the employer for our wage increases or forced unpaid labour - slavery - and we will not allow that to happen until we die.

We call on all South Africans to stand and support the public sector wage strike because for service delivery to become a reality we need to hold our government responsible for the chaos in the public service. Poor people have been badly let down by the government and they need to hold their leaders in government to account for the poor handling of the crisis and make it clear that they cannot outsource their responsibility to provide leadership.

NEHAWU is happy that our federation Cosatu's CEC has shown its working class credentials by not remaining neutral when the workers are under attack and we welcome their support. The nationwide marches tomorrow  will open a new chapter in our struggle for better wages and we are pleased that our sister unions will also be serving secondary strike notices to their employers to join our strike. We remain committed to the speedy resolution of this wage negotiations standoff but we also remain resolute in our pursuit of decent wages and will not succumb to terrorization and blackmail.

Statement issued by Sizwe Pamla, NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer, August 25 2010

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