Cape Town students march on Parliament‚ demand answers from Zuma

09 November 2015 - 15:50 By Jerome Cornelius And Gabi Mbele

Traffic came to a standstill around Parliament in Cape Town today due to a protest march by students from the universities of Cape Town‚ Western Cape and Cape Peninsula. This time the students are calling for President Jacob Zuma to sit with them to address issues including free education and in-sourcing of workers.#FeesMustFall member Kagiso Sekhoto said they wanted the president to address them today‚ or the protests would continue."The President must come outside. No students will go inside the Parliament. Instead he must come outside and sit in the ring with all of us‚" said Sekhoto.At a separate entrance inside parliament‚ Parliamentary workers staged a sit-in protest."How does government want us to survive with R100‚000 a year when we've worked in Parliament for over 20 years‚" said ST Thembe‚ regional chairperson of the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu).At UCT‚ student protesters have also placed several barricades on campus‚ mostly burning tires‚ the university said on its social media platforms.“We've cleared most and will continue to do so. Exams still continue.”Archbishop NWH Ndungane‚ chair of the UCT Council‚ said in a statement that the university had begun acceding to the demands about outsourced workers.“Rumours are circulating at UCT that as soon as exams are finished‚ outsourced workers will be victimised‚ dismissed and negatively treated in other ways. This is not true‚” he said. “The UCT Council wants to state clearly that: UCT has decided to insource the six outsourced services currently managed by C3‚ G4S‚ Metro‚ Sibanye‚ Supercare‚ and Turfworks;There will be no retrenchments between now and the date of insourcing‚ and all workers who are employed by these companies at UCT will be offered jobs by UCT when the services are insourced.All workers who become employees of UCT will be entitled to standard UCT benefits‚ such as medical aid‚ provident fund and fee rates according to standard UCT rules.All jobs will be graded according to the UCT grading system and paid according to the standard UCT payscales.” Ndungane said UCT management had already given deadlines for insourcing‚ ranging from 30 June 2016 to 2019. “The timetable is based on the timing of the contracts that UCT has with each of the companies‚” he explained. “Some of the other details of the insourcing must still be worked out. This must be done in a way that ensures that the insourcing happens smoothly‚ in a way that benefits workers and also ensures that services are delivered to the University community. "The other details will be worked out together with the workers so that the process can happen smoothly and the rights of workers are protected.” Zuma‚ meanwhile‚ is due in Germany tomorrow for an official visit at the invitation of Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel‚ while Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Iran. Minister for Women Susan Shabanga was today appointed as acting president...

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