South Africa: Public Sector Strike Ends As Govt, Unions Reach Settlement – South African News Briefs – March 16, 2023

Public Sector Strike Ends as Govt, Unions Reach Settlement

The National Education, Health, and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) has suspended its public sector strike after reaching a settlement agreement with the government, reports TimesLive. In a statement, Nehawu called on its members and workers at the picket lines to prepare for an orderly return to work, as they said the strike they embarked on earlier this month had registered significant achievements and outcomes.

President Ramaphosa to Host Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan

Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Suluhu Hassan will preside over the 2nd Session of the South Africa-Tanzania Bi-National Commission, which comprises committees on politics and diplomacy, defence and security, economic affairs as well as social and cultural affairs, reports SABC News. The two leaders will also address a business forum that will focus on agriculture, agro-processing, oil and gas, mining, and infrastructure development. This will be Hassan’s first visit to South Africa since she took office in 2021.

Companies Are Branding Potholes Which They Fix

Some Johannesburg residents are expressing their anger over a lack of service delivery by tagging potholes with graffiti blaming the ruling  African National Congress ( ANC). And two competing insurance companies are putting their own branding on potholes which they fix, reports News24.  Discovery Insure and Dialdirect Insurance say they have fixed more than 150 000 potholes since the initiative was launched in May 2021. The two companies’ handiwork is also being shared on social media, with South Africans by and large voicing their support for the initiative even as they criticised the ANC.

 Activists Mull Legal Action Over E.Coli Levels in River Systems

Citizen science activist group WaterCAN has said it is considering legal against the City of Johannesburg and the eThekwini Municipality due to the high levels of E.coli bacteria discovered in some river systems, Eyewitness News reports. The water action initiative’s decision to pursue criminal charges come after it claimed the tests E.coli taken at the Klein Jukskei River in Johannesburg and rivers in Durban produced results indicating years of neglect of the infrastructure. “It is clear that our rivers are under threat. If we do not act now, we will end up with dead river systems,” said WaterCAN manager Ferrial Adam.

Editor’s Body Calls on President to Finalise Appointment of National Broadcaster Board

The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently finalise the appointment of the new new South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board, Eyewitness News reports. This comes after media industry watchdog the Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) sought intervention from the Constitutional Court to compel Ramaphosa to take more immediate action. In a statement, Sanef voiced its agreement on MMA’s opinion that, without a board in place, the national broadcaster would “slide perilously close to insolvency”.

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