Sassa staff on go-slow strike
Zolani Sinxo
Despite a countrywide strike by Sassa employees, Sassa offices in the Western Cape were open, manned by skeleton staff, on Monday 2 July. In the rest of the country, services at the South African Social Service Agency (Sassa) were halted as employees participated in an ongoing wage increment strike. The strike, which has been taking place at Sassa offices for about a month, is a result of an increment dispute between the Public Servants Association (PSA), the union representing Sassa workers, and the Department of Social Development. The workers are demanding a 13% wage increase and a housing allowance increase from the current R1 500 to R2 500. The strike resulted in some Sassa George office employees taking part in a go-slow protest last week and customers had to endure long queues on Monday. The Department of Social Development has filed an interdict order against PSA in an attempt to prevent them from continuing with the strike. In a phone conversation with George Herald, Leon Gilbert of PSA said that if the department doesn't try to negotiate with them they will continue the strike. "We demand a 13% wage increment, but we are open for negotiation. However, the Minister of Social Development refuses to negotiate with us. Instead she takes us to court. We therefore plan to continue striking until she listens to us." Senior manager of Communications and Marketing at Sassa Western Cape, Shivani Wahab, said despite the strike, skeleton staff manned their offices on Monday. "All contact points were managed by Sassa staff and in the instance where beneficiaries could not be assisted, beneficiaries were advised on alternate points to access for their social grants. Sassa contact points are currently experiencing a high influx of beneficiaries due to the current card swap process that is in place till September 2018," said Wahab.