Cape Town —
Public Servants Issue Strike Notice as Wage Talks Deadlock
Public sector workers are planning to embark on mass-scale industrial action following the collapse of wage talks with the government. On offer is a 3% increase with a cash gratuity of between R1,000 and R1,200 until the end of March 2023. The gratuity is the main concern for the Public Servants Association (PSA), which says its members will be out of pocket by end March when the gratuity ends. Lunch-time pickets and nationwide marches are planned for November 10. This will be followed by a full-scale strike, Eye Witness News reports.
Moody’s Changes Eskom Rating to Positive!
One of the world’s big rating agencies, Moody’s, has changed Eskom’s outlook to positive. The power utility has had a negative outlook for 15 years. The announcement comes after Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced plans to provide debt relief to Eskom to address the utility’s liquidity challenges. The ailing utility has been struggling to keep the lights on in the country, contending with years of mismanagement and crumbling infrastructure.
Police Reduce DNA Analysis Backlog
Police Minister Bheki Cele says the country’s DNA backlog has been reduced to 71,000 cases. The South African Police Service (SAPS) has been working on reducing its DNA analysis backlog from 240,000 cases in six months. The backlog has led to delays in many court cases across the country which require DNA results to proceed, eNCA reports.