By Bonile Ngqiyaza
A quiet storm is brewing in South Africa's court corridors as anger among National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) staff, suppressed for more than a year, threatens to boil over.
Prosecutors on Monday began what has been termed a "silent protest" over salary increases.
Some prosecutors tried to put up banners in front of the Johannesburg High Court, but were told to remove them.
At the Johannesburg magistrate's court, prosecutors expressed extreme dissatisfaction at the fact that the government has still not implemented pay increases promised to them in July last year.
All the prosecutors that The Star approached, including a senior prosecutor at the court, were not willing to speak on record for fear that they might be victimised.
"We are barred from that (talking to the media)," said one prosecutor.
He however said he was bitter at Minister of Justice Brigitte Mabandla's failure to raise their salaries by a promised 10,5%, or to implement the occupational-specific dispensation, under which legal professionals should receive pay increases.
The prosecutor and three of his colleagues said they would be hounded out of their jobs if it were known that they had spoken to the media.
A senior prosecutor said it was the total lack of communication that was threatening to bring things to a head.
"The non-communication is a problem. This is very serious. Prosecutors take this in a very serious light. There's absolutely no transparency. I do not have to talk to you about the rise in the cost of living," the senior prosecutor said.
The Star has also had sight of correspondence circulating among some prosecutors. The tenor and the tone of some of their letters reveal a deep anger, and even impatience with some of the public service trade unions.
"Maybe I answer a bit emotionally, and if so, I'm sorry," one of the missives reads in part.
"You know how a prosecutor's life goes What really makes all of us extremely angry is that we still, even after the deadline has been passed, and passed, and passed (sic) ad infinitum - do not know what the final results are. What on earth must be signed?
"I think you cannot blame us if we feel that we have been treated atrociously by the union as well as the NPA We should take care that our willingness to walk the (extra) mile (is) not abused and used against us," the prosecutor says.
Another correspondence seen by The Star seems to contemplate industrial action, a step barred in terms of the Labour Relations Action, as prosecutors are regarded as some of those deemed to be performing an essential service.
"What we want is a package equivalent to what our magistrates are getting," the prosecutor says.
"Come on people, get up and let us stand up for our rights. Let us not give up before we even start the fight," the letter says.
On Monday, NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali acknowledged the dissatisfaction of the prosecutors.
"We are aware of a growing disquiet among members of staff and that the reason for that is the delay in the implementation of the occupational-specific dispensation."
Tlali said the issue would be given priority consideration.
"We will communicate with the members of staff via our internal mechanisms," he said.
Public Servants Association (PSA) spokesperson Manie de Clercq said his union had not arranged the protest action.
The PSA had declared a dispute regarding the non-implementation of the occupational-specific dispensation (OSD) for legally qualified professionals in the Department of Justice, he said.
The dispute was based on Mabandla's failure to implement the OSD for legally qualified professionals with retrospective effect from July 1 2007, as determined in the salary agreement that was signed by public service trade unions and the government last year.
De Clercq said the PSA will approach the Johannesburg Labour Court to compel the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Board and the Minister of Justice, in the case of prosecutors, to expedite the process of payment of benefits arising from the OSD to the relevant employees.