Cape Town/ Durban - Hundreds of members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, clad in red and yellow T-shirts, gathered in Cape Town and Durban ahead of marches over salary grades on Wednesday.
Staff were protesting over the safety and security sectoral bargaining council agreement signed in 2011, which had apparently not yet been implemented.
The agreement contains provisions related to pay level upgrades and career path planning.
At the King Dinuzulu Gardens in Durban Popcru members carried placards which read: “Away with level three salaries for 20 years,” and “Away with slavery packages”.
They were expected to march to the police provincial headquarters in Durban.
In Cape Town a crowd gathered in Keizergracht Street and waited for buses to bring in people from Paarl, Worcester, and Beaufort West.
Some blew vuvuzelas, and one carried a sign with the words: "Top management must adhere to agreement or face war. Away with low wages".
Other signs read: "Popcru rescue us from this SAPS madness", and "Why should we beg?".
At one point, the crowd sang: "Is this dog, Phiyega? She is taking our rights from us."
Riah Phiyega is the national police commissioner.
The march to the police provincial offices in Green Point was to have started at 9am.
Indications were the march could be redirected to Parliament, depending on the eventual starting time.
Congress of SA Trade Unions marshals would lead the march. - Sapa