South Africa’s public sector wage bill is probably going to balloon to almost R700 billion, if a remaining wage offer averaging 7.5% by the ministry of public service and administration is carried out.
The hike to 7.5%, introduced in a late-night assertion on Thursday, appears to be a transparent effort by authorities to attempt to avert a nationwide strike by public sector staff subsequent Tuesday.
Read: Civil servants plan to march to Treasury
Acting Minister of Public Service and Administration, Thulas Nxesi, stated within the assertion that authorities has made a brand new offer of seven.5% to labour unions representing greater than 1 million staff beneath the service of the public sector.
Nxesi additionally identified that the transfer would add R34 billion to the nation’s already strained fiscus.
The authorities’s preliminary offer was for a 3% wage enhance, which was dismissed by public sector staff within the face of inflation in South Africa peaking at virtually 8% in July.
Nxesi stated the newest offer is 3% pensionable and 4.5% non-pensionable and can kick in for the 2022/2023 monetary 12 months.
Added to the R665 billion South Africa already pays in public worker compensation, the wage hikes (if accepted) will see the nation’s new wage bill hitting virtually R700 billion, which might be nearer to a degree Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana projected could be solely reached in 2025.
Godongwana stated earlier this 12 months that he expects the wage bill to develop at a price of 1.8% yearly.
The 7.5% offer on Thursday additionally comes forward of the ANC Elective Conference in Johannesburg in December. Party chief and SA President Cyril Ramaphosa would need to keep away from a drawn-out public sector strike forward of the convention, however unions are additionally probably to leverage off this.
Read: Public sector wage talks depart Ramaphosa in tight spot
‘Misleading’ wage offer
Despite the brand new offer, unions insisted on Friday that no new or remaining offer has been made.
Lwazi Nkolonzi, nationwide spokesperson for the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), informed Moneyweb the federal government’s assertion was deceptive the public, including that unions haven’t rejected a revised offer of seven.5%.
“The only final offer that was tabled was at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council [PSCBC] and it was the 3%”,” says Nkolonzi.
He stated no authorities official of the public service administration had engaged the unions a few new or remaining offer after the unions introduced their intention to strike yesterday.
“The correct and proper platform to make an offer is at the PSCBC, and the last time was between 31 October and 1 November when we were issued certificates of non-resolution. There’s been no other engagement.”
Shocked
“We were quite shocked last night when we saw that statement,” stated Nkolonzi.
The unions have learn the assertion as the federal government’s ploy to discourage staff from hanging subsequent week, public service unions beneath the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) and South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), stated in a joint assertion on Friday.
“This is not true, there was never a 7.5% offer that was presented at the PSCBC, but the government has been trying to pull the wool over public servants by distorting the offer,” the unions stated.
The unions added that the federal government “sneakily combined” a R1 000 stipend, and the three% baseline enhance in its calculations, rounding it up to a “fictitious 7.5% increase”.
“This means that the government is making an extraordinary claim that this R1000 stipend amounts to 4.5% and combined with their current 3% offer, this amounts to 7.5%,” the unions famous within the joint assertion.
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“The maintenance of labour peace remains a critical part of the efforts to professionalise the public service as contained in the Cabinet approved Professionalisation Framework,” Nxesi burdened in his assertion on Thursday.
Nxesi urged unions to return to negotiating desk “to resolve all disputes”.
“If we fail to reconvene and agree on a new agreement to engage and settle the matter of wages, we are likely to find ourselves in the same predicament where the budget tabled the minister of finance will inform the limits for the wage negotiations and not the other way around as it should be,” he defined.
March to Treasury
Earlier on Thursday, civil staff vowed to march to the National Treasury’s workplaces in Pretoria with further marches deliberate in all different provinces in coming days, in bid to get the federal government to elevate its offer to staff.
That would see main disruptions in key authorities providers comparable to public healthcare and residential affairs.
The newest wage offer introduced by Nxesi seems to be considerably larger than what Godongwana tabled in his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement final month, making the finance minister’s process of curbing the wage bill harder.
Godongwana beforehand unilaterally carried out a 3% wage enhance, saying larger public-service wages would pose dangers to the nation’s already murky fiscal outlook.
The authorities stated it effected the brand new offer to recognise public servants for his or her continued service and that they don’t seem to be deprived. It additionally stated it’s safeguarding the fiscal well being of the nation and is making certain the present funds isn’t repurposed for different authorities priorities, amongst different causes.
Read: Finance Minister: Public service wage bill threat to SA’s fiscal framework
