Workers shake Parly to its core

“We are not intimidated. It’s fine. Let them call the police. Then everyone will see we have dictators.”

Cape Town - Interventions by various political parties at Parliament have brokered a deal which saw public order police stand down, as protesting National Eduction Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) members undertook to protest peacefully.

ANC deputy chief whip Doris Dlakude, DA leader Mmusi Maimane and United Democratic Movement chief whip Nqabayomzi Kwankwa each addressed the protesters in turn, saying they were talking to Parliament leadership to get the public order police to withdraw, and to the police officer in charge of the operation to broker the agreement.

Nehawu’s parliamentary branch chairman S’thembiso Tembe also appealed for assistance from the mediators to allow colleagues locked outside Parliament, which went into shut down, to come inside as they had their medication in their offices.

By 2.30pm there appeared to be an agreement, and Nehawu members moved into the Old Assembly Chamber for a briefing.

Police were called in on day three of Nehawu’s protest for performance bonuses and better working conditions. The union has fingered Parliament’s administration of dealing with them in bad faith, not responding to their call to postpone security vetting by the State Security Agency (SSA) and leaving employees stranded when they retire or fall ill.

Since Nehawu downed tools - the union represents 981 of Parliament’s 1 389 employees - talks have been underway since Tuesday afternoon, without a resolution. Another meeting was scheduled for 5.30pm on Wednesday, but on Wednesday morning workers were told they would not be paid.

The move by party political leaders came after volleys of stun grenades and several smoke grenades were again fired as public order police, colloquially known as riot police.

Around noon the police in body armour, helmets and shield arrived - apparently on the orders of the Secretary to Parliament, according to a police officer on a loud hailer. Nehawu workers were given five minutes to disperse - in English and isiXhosa - and the police moved in.

Workers regrouped on the stairs of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) - singing “We work here!” and Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika. Volleys of stun grenades and red and green smoke grenades were fired. Police used their riot shields to push sitting workers - wearing red union t-shirts and many also yellow ANC t-shirts with President Jacob Zuma’s face - but at one stage also pulled people down the stairs.

Over the next hour and a half, police and protesters regrouped in a stand off. This differed starkly with the heavy-handed protests metered out to #FeesMustFall student protesters on October 21, when public order police pushed them out of the precinct using stun grenades, smoke grenades and pepper spray. At least one police officer also used a Tazer.

On Wednesday the public order police arrived after Nehawu members burst into several committee meetings, taking their grievances to MPs. The parliamentary police committee postponed its sitting amid workers singing “ePalamente sifuna imali. Asonwabanga! (Parliament, we want money. We are not happy)”. It is understood the appropriation committee was also interrupted.

The writing was on the wall since Tuesday afternoon when Secretary to Parliament Gengezi Mgidlana invoked a September 2010 interdict to move protests outside the parliamentary precinct.

Tembe told Independent Newspapers the interdict was old and not applicable. “We are not intimidated,” he said. “It’s fine. Let them call the police. Then everyone will see we have dictators.”

Parties from across the political divide agreed with workers’ right to protest peacefully, but drew the line at interruptions. DA chief whip John Steenhuisen, IFP MP Albert Mncwango, EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu and Kwankwa raised concerns over the lack of leadership by the parliamentary administration to resolve the labour dispute.

Parliament was not immediately available for comment. “I am sure it will come in due course,” said the institution’s spokesman Luzuko Jacobs.

Political Bureau