Everything came to a standstill for almost a week at the Sinthumule/Kutama maximum prison, as warders had gathered at the main entrance since last Wednesday to Monday this week.

The warders returned to work on Tuesday after their union and the chairperson of the GEO group from Australia met and reached an agreement on Monday.

The strikers, who are members of Popcru, went on strike after accusing the management of delaying the occupation specific dispensation (OSD). Other conditions are that four months maternity leave must be paid, danger allowance, night shifts must be paid as well as a standbye and uniform maintance allowance.

The warders forced the mangement out of the prison premises and stayed outside.The union claimed that they never consulted before members received their salaries. The provincial secretary of Popcru, Morris Sithole, said they were unhappy about management´s failure to implement OSD and other issues. He added that prison management had failed to act in terms of the recommendations on the OSD and that was why members had gone on strike. Sithole said the union had negotiated in good faith, but management dragged their feet and did not honour the agreement. “We negotiated in good faith, but when it came to implementation, they acted in bad faith," Sithole said.

A spokesperson for the institution refused to discuss the issue with Limpopo Mirror.