19 June 2007
After an amazing week of networking and fun in Johannesburg it is back to reality: Grahamstown, my thesis, crazy cat, deaf dog and tiny room. Returning by Greyhound in the early hours of Saturday morning I was welcomed by a pile of rubbish in our street; the trash has not been picked up because of the nationwide public service strike that’s been going on for three weeks now.

Besides the trash problem, and far more important, is that schools all over South Africa have been without teachers for weeks and hospitals without nurses. The wage increase proposed by the government was too low according to the Unions, instead of 3% the Unions demand 10%. Today, it looks like both parties are settling for the 7.2% increase proposed by the government. But talks are still underway.

Public servants?
What I don’t understand is how these striking people can still be called ‘public servants’. In Johannesburg and Kwazulu Natal the so-called strikes turned into violent protests, changing the nature of all happenings from peaceful to very ugly. That just doesn’t suit the definition; these people are not professional and not serving the public at all.

Of course the government must give them a bigger increase and there is nothing wrong with striking as a way to get what everyone wants. It is a problem when the strikers can’t strike peacefully and, worse, when people die. After a week the strike claimed its first life. A young mother was not able to give birth to her son because the ambulance was not there to pick her up. There were complications and the mother, not aware of the problems surrounding her baby’s health, was rushed into surgery to remove the lifeless baby from her belly.

The nation cried when a television news bulletin reported straight from the hospital with the pregnant woman in the background. The commentator said something like this: ‘this woman just lost her baby, she does not yet realise why she is rushed into surgery…but she will when she wakes up’. Etv did not wait to show the world how disgusting the consequences of the strike are.

The government had to now do something and warned striking nurses and police that they will be fired if they continue to strike. Erhm, so then who will work instead of them? Wasn’t there a shortage already? Not a good idea.

Eskom
Not only are public servants unhappy with the new wage increase, now Eskom (South Africa’s main electricity supplier) wants to down tools as well. This might mean more power cuts, no help with electricity problems and major black-outs during this icy South African winter that has already claimed lives.

The South African government doesn’t seem to care; there is nothing in the news that suggests they are working on this problem. When will that happen? When their electric blankets, heaters and kettle don’t switch on? Or when they hear that hundreds of South Africans died in their shacks of hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, or fires? I’m afraid it will be the last.

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To view the photos of my Johannesburg trip please click here