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The National Union of Education, Health and Allied Workers (Nehawu) said that problems related to salary increases for public servants and the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline workers are part of the agenda of his meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa scheduled for Friday.
The meeting was initially scheduled for Wednesday, but could not be held because Ramaphosa was recovering from the flu. President Jackson Mthembu’s minister tweeted that the meeting “had to be rescheduled for Friday as a result.”
On Thursday, Mthembu spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli referred questions to Ramaphosa acting spokesperson Tyrone Seale, who only said: “We will make an announcement before the meeting.”
Nehawu’s national leadership meeting with Ramaphosa follows their recent protest at Union Buildings over the lack of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and better wages for government employees.
Khaya Xaba, Nehawu’s national spokesperson, confirmed that these issues will be the focus of attention during the meeting with the president.
Nehawu, affiliated with the Cosatu union federation, held a virtual meeting with the ANC leadership on Monday to raise the same issues and complained that the former liberation movement did not treat them fairly.
The third largest public sector union in the country has threatened to stop supporting the ANC during local government elections in 2021 over public servants’ pay.
“We presented our problems to the ANC leaders and they promised to deliberate on them and come back to us. All the officials attended the meeting except the president, ”Xaba said.
The government and unions have been on a collision course since Finance Minister Tito Mboweni made large cuts to the public sector wage bill in his Budget Review in February.
After that, the state reneged on a wage increase agreement it had signed with the unions three years ago. The matter is now subject to arbitration and court proceedings.
