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Army scrambled as South African strike cripples hospitals

Other News Materials 19 August 2010 20:11 (UTC +04:00)
South Africa's government called in the army to help care for patients at public hospitals and boost security following clashes between the police and striking public servants Thursday, dpa reported.
Army scrambled as South African strike cripples hospitals

South Africa's government called in the army to help care for patients at public hospitals and boost security following clashes between the police and striking public servants Thursday, dpa reported.

The South African National Defence Force deployed military doctors and nurses to help out at several hospitals, where workers walked off the job Wednesday in protest over their pay, the South African Press Association reported.

The SANDF had also sent soldiers to help secure some hospitals, where demonstrating workers fought pitched battles with the police on the second day of the open-ended public sector strike.

Healthcare workers, teachers, correctional services officers and other public servants are demanding an 8.6-per-cent pay increase and a housing allowance of 1,000 rand (139 dollars).

After weeks of negotiations, the state is refusing to budge on its latest offer of a 7-per-cent increase and a 700 rand housing allowance.

Tensions escalated sharply Thursday, with police using rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators in at least two places.

Johannesburg's 702 radio station reported that five people were injured, one seriously, when police opened fire on a crowd of striking teachers, who tried to seal off a road south of Johannesburg.

In a separate incident, police fired rubber bullets and used a water cannon to repulse demonstrators outside Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto township, the only hospital for the township's estimated 2 million residents.

Dozens of striking workers had reportedly marched on the hospital with the intention of chasing away staff who showed up for work.

Public hospitals are supposed to maintain minimum levels of care during strikes. But with union members vowing to "shut down" the public service, some ambulances with critical patients have been turned away and doctors and nurses have been threatened for trying to defy the strike.

Schools and courts have also been severely affected by the walkout, which was called by unions representing around 1 million out of around 1.3 million public servants.

The government has pleaded with the workers to return to work, saying it cannot afford to keep hiking their salaries.

"We had to make a choice between increasing the salary bill to unaffordable levels by meeting the union demands and cutting other urgently needed services." government spokesman Themba Maseko said.

The unions say workers in the public service are grossly underpaid. A teacher with a degree earns between 7,000 (under 1,000 dollars) and 8,000 rand a month.

The last major public service strike in 2007 paralyzed education and health care for a month.

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