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Public sector unions are up in arms over the government’s plan to cut the wage bill in order to help reduce the deficit and stabilize the country’s mounting debt.
The Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, delivered his supplementary budget on June 24, 2020. Image: GCIS
CAPE TOWN – Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday that he would take a “hands-off” approach when it comes to negotiations on the Public Service Wage Law, but says he expects a positive outcome.
Mboweni said that the talks with the public sector unions fell directly under the Minister of Administration and Public Service, Senzo Mchunu.
Public sector unions are up in arms over the government’s plan to cut the Wage Law to help reduce the deficit and stabilize the country’s mounting debt.
Introducing the medium-term budget policy statement, Mboweni insisted that a new consensus was needed on the salaries of civil servants, saying they have enjoyed increases of an average 7.2%, well above inflation, in the last five years.
Many workers in the private sector have already accepted pay cuts so that companies can survive. Now the focus is on the salaries of public servants.
Reporting after his speech, Mboweni stressed that the country is in trouble and that something has to give.
“We are in a bind, we are in a solution here; we need to solve this problem and we cannot continue as if things remained the same. In this one, I kick by touch for the Minister (of Administration and Public Service) (Senzo) Mchunu to take care of him; I’ll stay in my lane. “
But Mboweni insisted that the envelope is so big.
“I have to be optimistic that a solution will be found that does not break the fiscal framework, that is the problem. We cannot break the fiscal framework, something has to give. “
The director general of the Treasury, Dondo Mogajane, intervened: “Everyone must feel the pain – state companies, public entities, members of the national and provincial legislatures – and (Mboweni) made it clear in the House today (Wednesday) that we must look at this, including all senior civil servants and political officials.
“That is why it is important that the pain is felt and not only (by) the working class.”
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