MPs warn magistrates not to strike
2013-03-12 16:26
Cape Town - Lawmakers warned magistrates locked in a pay
dispute with the State on Tuesday that it would be improper for them to go on
strike.
"You are public servants and you are behaving like a
trade union," ANC MP John Jeffery told the Judicial Officers' Association
of SA (Joasa) at a sitting of Parliament's justice portfolio committee.
Jeffery asked whether the strike would be legal.
DA MP Debbie Shaefer said: "The threat to strike
will not do your cause any good."
Joasa president Nazeem Joemath said he was "appalled"
to learn of members' decision to launch a week-long strike from 18 March.
However, he said this was a last resort in a long-running
pay dispute with the independent remuneration commission.
The portfolio committee was hearing presentations by
three magistrates' associations, which claim the commission failed to consider
their submissions on their salary dispensation.
The commission, headed by Judge Willie Seriti, proposed
an annual increase of 5.5%, which has to be approved by the president and both
houses of Parliament, to take effect on 1 April.
Chief among Joasa's demands is that the commission
immediately institute a single pay structure for all members of the judiciary.
A letter to members states that failing this, labour
action will be extended.
"From the 18 to 22 March 2013, only postponements
will be done. If no substantial positive developments occur between the 18 and 25
March, the action will be escalated," it said.
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) MP Steve Swart
said the impact on the justice system could be dire.
"Think of the unintended consequences your strike
will have," he said.
MPs heard that magistrates were aggrieved that their
salaries had shrunk in recent years from 47% of the chief justice's, to 30% of
his pay package.
Jeffery said this did not mean their pay had been
reduced, only that the chief justice had been granted a scale adjustment.
He said if the magistrates' demands were met, they would
get an unjustifiable, "almost 100%" increase on their current entry
level annual salary of R671 000.
The magistrates have for months sought a meeting with MPs to implore them to intervene with Judge Seriti's commission, but committee chairperson Luwellyn Landers said this posed a conflict of interest for MPs whose salaries are determined by the same body.
"It is just patently wrong to say we have oversight over the IRC."
It is expected that the committee will ratify the 5.5% increase when it meets again on Wednesday, but refuse any further role in the matter, as several MPs expressed the same thinking as Landers.
Shaefer said the appropriate remedy for magistrates was to take the president to court, which the Association of Regional Magistrates of SA (Armsa) has done.
That case is before the Constitutional Court and judgment is expected soon.
Armsa members said they had been reluctant to launch a case against the president, but it was the only legal route as the salary increase was his decision, while being a mere recommendation of the commission.
The association's Vincent Ratshibvumo accused MPs of lacking sympathy for their plight.
"We are not happy with the position you are taking. You are passing the buck."
- SAPA
