Photo by: GovtZA
There was a ray of hope for Parliament's locked out National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) workers on Thursday, as leaders hinted of an imminent settlement to their performance bonus dispute.
As Members of Parliament (MPs) started their last session of the year, Nehawu chairperson at Parliament Sthembiso Tembe told the group singing loudly outside the gates that negotiations over performance bonus calculations had gone well on Wednesday night.
''The discussions went very well, but are not concluded yet,'' said Nehawu branch chairperson Sthembiso Tembe.
Nehawu president Mzwandile Makwayiba arrived at Parliament on Wednesday to help bring a close to the bitter dispute over which percentage to use to calculate the bonuses.
Tembe said the workers would get a report later which would ''bring some joy to the thousands of workers here'', but would not go into details.
In the meantime, MPs fought among themselves over how they should go ahead with the work of the day in the National Assembly, with some complaining about a proposed reshuffle of the agenda. After a tense short sitting, proceedings were suspended for an hour.
Outside, at least 30 police officers were sheltered in a car park in the precinct, with vans from various policing units parked in Plein Street.
On Thursday MPs and dignitaries had arrived unhindered at other entrances, with the Navy's choir waiting in the wings in their white dress uniforms to sing for dignitaries and MPs later.
The Nehawu choir, whose talents were evident in the three weeks of protest song singing, withheld its services at the State of the Nation Address earlier this year so other choirs have stepped in.
On November 6, Nehawu workers at Parliament downed tools over how to calculate their bonuses claiming Parliament had reneged on an agreement in March.