Barometer of Education Resistance

June 30, 2005 Editor DEBATES & OPINIONS 0

7 September 2004 New Castle-Kwazulu 700 angry pupils and parents at Ncandu Combined School stage a sit-in on the premises of Amajuba district education office in protest against the closure of their school by a farmer who is allegedly owed R50 000 by the department.
25 January 2005 Port Elizabeth Parents and learners protest outside the Bethelsdorp Senior Secondary School after grade 8 learners are denied admission to the school on the grounds that do not they live in the school’s vicinity.
27 January 2005 Orange Farm- Gauteng Angry parents force their way in after their children are refused enrollment at Mphithi Mahlatsi High School.
08 February 2005 Kwazulu Natal Students at UKZN protest and boycott lectures, claiming that authorities have reneged on an agreement last year that faculties would be housed in the university building.
14,15 February 2005 Pretoria

About 1000 students at the Soshanguve & Garankuwa campuses of the university embark on a protest against a recently announced increase on fees.
07 March 2005 Eastern Cape The members of National Education & Health Workers Union gather outside the education department district office in Sidwell, in protest against the decision to decrease the number of educators.
25 March 2005 Durban Students march to the Durban Institute of Technology, outraged by the R3.8 million “golden handshake” given to the outgoing vice-chancellor, Professor Dan Ncayiyana.
14 April 2005 Gauteng-Pretoria Teachers at Lotus high school go on strike over staff shortages and unfavorable working conditions.
19 April 2005 KwaMagxaki Angry parents vow to prevent the education department from closing down Spencer Mabija primary school, affecting 16 teachers and 300 learners.
 03 january 2005 National About 2 200 workers at Nestle chocolate factories go on strike over wage dispute. The Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) demands 8% while Nestle offers 6.4%.
 05 January 2005 Durban Residents of Bayview in Chatsworth resist the council water disconnection teams.
 03 February 2005 Kwazulu Natal 527 monthly-paid members of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) at 3 Frame Textiles factories go on strike in support of their demand for a 7% rise for all employees. Pay negotiations break down after management offers 4%.
 27 February 2005 National  Over 30 000 truck drivers go on strike in support of a demand for higher wages and increased night shift allowances. The five main transport unions support the strike. Workers demand a wage increase of 9% across the board and 10% for workers earning a minimum wage.
 03 March 2005 Johannesburg  A march by the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee (SECC) in Dlamini against a councilor who sells houses owned by elderly people.
 17 March 2005 Cape Town  The Police and Prisons and Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) members march to parliament to urge President Mbeki to intervene in the situation in South African prisons. The march was preceded by national protest action against overtime work in December 2004 and January 2005.
 19 March 2005 Johannesburg  The Gauteng Anti-War Coalition organises a march of about 1 000 people through the streets of Johannesburg as part of a global day of action on the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
 24 March 2005 Johannesburg  March organised by SECC to Moroka Police Station. Residents dump electricity and pre-paid water meters installed at their homes.
24 March 2005 Free State About 20 000 gold miners begin strike action protesting 4 900 threatened job cuts at Harmony mine.
 18 April 2005 Benoni  Workers at MCE Engineering go on strike and demand to be paid their full salaries of R650, rather than the R100 they received the previous Friday. Two workers are killed and one critically injured after their employer opens fire on them during the wage dispute
 21 April 2005 Johannesburg  Alexandra affiliates of the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) demonstrate outside of the Johannesburg High Court to stop the eviction of more than 1 000 residents from disused factories in Wynberg.
 21 April 2005 Johannesburg  March organised by SECC to Protea Magistrate Court. Residents hand over a memorandum against the police who escort people installing pre-paid meters.
 26 April 2005 Johannesburg  Picket organised by SECC at Zoo Lake against Johannesburg Water for installing pre-paid water meters in Soweto.
 02 May 2005 Johannesburg  Residents of White City, Soweto decide to remove pre-paid water meters during their meeting.
 04 May 2005  Johannesburg  Residents of Diepkloof march to the council against poor service delivery.
 06 May 2005 Sandton  Demonstration at Barclays Bank head office organised by Jubilee South Africa against the bank’s ABSA takeover bid.
 09 May 2005 National  Over 4000 national Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) members down tools at volkswagen SA in a bid to force the company to reserve its decision to outsource part of its operation to a labour broker.
11 May 2005 Cape Town Residents of Valhalla Park, Vrygrond and elsewhere march to demand electricity for all, houses for all and an end to privatisation of government land.
 13 May 2005 Durban  Thousands of residents in informal settlements in Durban’s Ward 25 march to demand the resignation of a local councilor and for land and housing.
 13 May 2005 Johannesburg  Demonstration at ABSA head office organised by Jubilee South Africa against Barclays Bank’s takeover bid.
 13 May 2005 Johannesburg Picket organised by SECC at Rand Water offices in Main Street (JHB) against pre-paid water meters and water cut offs.
 17 May 2005 Cape Town  About 2 000 members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) down tools and protest against government plans to privatise basic services such as water and electricity.
 20 May 2005 Gauteng  Demonstrations organised by Jubilee South Africa against Barclays Bank’s takeover bid at Barclays and ABSA head offices and ABSA branches in Braamfontein, Germiston, Vereeniging and Pretoria.
 21 May 2005 Pretoria  Thousands of Pretoria residents march to Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan’s office to protest at the city’s name being changed to Tshwane.
 23 May 2005 Cape Town  Residents of Gugulethu and Khayelitsha stage a housing protest and burn tyres in the two townships. They express anger at the lack of housing delivery as well as the lack of water and electricity for informal settlements.
 28 May 2005 Johannesburg The Young Communist League Gauteng Province marches against the poor working conditions of casuals and temporary workers.
 28 May 2005 Johannesburg Jubilee South Africa (SA) organises a march of around 1 000 people to ABSA’s head office in Johannesburg to protest against the planned return of Britain’s Barclays Bank.
 03 May 2005 National  Demonstrations at Barclays Bank head office, ABSA head office and ABSA branches organised by Jubilee South Africa against Barclays Bank’s takeover bid.
 04 June 2005  Western Cape  Demonstrations organised by Jubilee South Africa against Barclays Bank’s takeover bid at ABSA Branches.
17 January 2005 Zimbabwe Postal workers at Zimpost are in their fourth month of industrial action, in a dispute over pay. Attempts at negotiations have failed, with rumours that the company may be about to dismiss the 3 000 strikers and replace them with casual labour.
 17 january 2005 Zambia Secondary school teachers in Lusaka go on strike over housing allowance arrears owed to them from 2002. They also protest the delay in payment of their December 2004 salaries.
 02 February 2005  Zambia  More than 100 wives of former employees of Kapiri Glass Product (KGP) in Kapiri Mposhi march with their husbands through the civic centre. The women demand that the government pay their husbands’ termination benefits after the closure of the KGP factory. At the same time, armed police disperse unionised Kapiri Mposhi council workers demanding six months’ salary arrears.
 08 February 2005 Zambia Local government workers in Lusaka and the Copperbelt region of Zambia go on strike demanding the government to put aside K100 billion ($US2.3 million) of its 2005 national budget for local authorities. Work at the Ndola City Council is stopped by the strike involving over 800 unionised employees.
 15 March 2005 Namibia  About 200 workers at Chipanga II coal mine in Moatize down tools and march seven kilometers to company headquarters to demand the payment of wages owed since January. Union representatives complain of excessive working hours and inadequate safety procedures.
 12 April 2005 Namibia  Around 200 teachers hold a demonstration in the city of Keetmanshoop. The teachers, members of the Teachers Union of Namibia, protest the disparity between salaries of teachers in primary schools and their counterparts in secondary schools and newly appointed teachers. Primary school teachers receive far lower salaries. They also protest against pension, leave and housing subsidy conditions, and demand better facilities for further study.
 25 April 2005 Zambia  Nurses at Ndola Central Hospital go on strike, protesting against government giving housing allowances to teachers while withholding them from nurses.
 25 April – 03 May 2005 Zambia Council workers go on strike, defying a government threat of mass retrenchments. The Zambian United Local Authority Workers Union (ZULAWU) call the strike in support of a demand for the government to give K35 billion ($US7.6 million) to local councils to fund packages for retirees and workers seconded to utility companies.
 18 May 2005 Zambia  Two miners are killed and twelve others injured, with two still unaccounted for in a pit accident at Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) in Mufulira in the Zambian Copper Belt. When wives and families gather outside the mine to enquire about their loved ones and to protest over the accident, police fire tear-gas into the crowd.
 21 May – 04 June 2005  Botswana Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) and the Public Service Workers Association (PWSA) plan a series of marches to demand government action to protect workers from victimisation. They hand over a petition to President Festus Mogae demanding new legislation to bring Botswana’s labour laws in line with the standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
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