SABC attorney Puke Maserumule said the parties had agreed there would be no strike action until after the matter was heard on the new date, Thursday 25 June.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the Media Workers Association of SA (Mwasa) were granted permission to strike by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) on Thursday over a pay dispute and the crisis at the broadcaster.

The CWU was still canvassing its members over whether to go on strike during the Confederations Cup, when the SABC decided to launch Friday's application.

They had been asked by Parliament's communications portfolio chairperson Ismail Vadi to hold off until after the soccer final on 28 June.

The union members form part of a large team of broadcasters transmitting the games locally and internationally.

The SABC planned to apply for an interdict on Friday to stop the unions from going on strike pending a review of the certificates the CCMA issued giving the unions the right to go on a protected strike.

According to Friday's order, agreed to in Judge Jerome Mthembu's chambers, Mwasa would withdraw the strike notice it issued on 18 June.

Also, both unions and their individual members would not issue any strike notice until after judgment had been handed down following next Thursday's hearing.

The SABC was relying on sections of the Labour Relations Act, which set out the right to strike and limitations on these rights, for its application.

The unions had been in dispute with the financially struggling broadcaster after it failed to implement a multi-term pay agreement in April.

In a separate issue, a coalition of producers and artists was also demanding at least R60-million in unpaid fees for work done for the SABC.

The Minister of Communications Siphiwe Nyanda had said the appointment of a new board was imminent, following the resignation of almost all the current members, including the chairwoman, this year.

Sapa

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