Pretoria court in limbo as workers protest

Cases were forced to be postponed at the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Thursday as clerks and interpreters were on a labour strike.

The court operated partially on Thursday morning as cases were postponed.
Only magistrates, lawyers and a few clerks were working.

The police arrived late with accused people who were supposed to appear before court but remained detained in the trucks because of the protest. None of the accused in police custody who were applying for bail appeared in court 16. Their cases were postponed to later dates.

One advocate was not happy about the postponement. He told the court his client had been in custody for more than a month.

Cross-examination of an accused in the murder case of a 23-year-old University of Pretoria student was delayed yet again. The case was among those postponed in court 16.

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Internal audit honours degree student Thapelo Menwe was robbed and killed in Grosvenor Street, Hatfield, as he walked home from a student bar in the early hours of September 10.

The accused, Bongani Sibiya and William Mokgaba, did not appear in court.

Evidence from the investigating officer was supposed to have been given on Thursday but the officer waited for hours in vain.

Makgoba’s lawyer, Nakedi Mamogobo, appeared on behalf of his client in absentia.

The accused will be back in court on November 23.

ALSO READ: University of Pretoria murder: ‘36 minutes of CPR could not bring him back’ – security officer

The Public Servants Association (PSA) and Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) protested outside the National Treasury offices in Pretoria demanding a salary increase.

According to the association it represents about 235 000 members in the public service and the strike was expected to affect departments such as Home Affairs, Transport, and Border Control.

“The PSA issued the union’s strike notice on October 24 after a deadlock was reached in salary negotiations following the government’s offer of a 3% increase and discontinuation of the cash gratuity after 31 March 2023,” a PSA statement read.

The association said they demanded a 6.5% increase.

The association said government employees were feeling severe effects of price increases for fuel, transport, and food as well as interest rate hikes.

“Government’s decision to unilaterally implement the meagre increase for public servants’ salaries in November 2022 has angered the PSA,” the statement read.

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