The South African Government has offered Public Servants a 1.5 per cent pay rise in an effort to stave off a nationwide strike of Government employees.
Unions representing the workers had previously said the negotiations were deadlocked after the Government initially offered no increase.
Minister for Public Service and Administration, Senzo Mchunu (pictured) said the Government was trying to contain its wage bill, which accounts for around a third of consolidated spending, in order to rein in a steep rise in debt that had been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The offer is 1.5 per cent which is pensionable and is on the baseline,” Mr Mchunu told a news conference.
“Secondly, we will offer a one-off cash gratuity which ranges from R1,220 to R1,695 ($A113.59 to $A157.82),” he said.
Unions have yet to respond to the revised offer.
Angered by the Government’s initial refusal to raise wages, one of the biggest public sector unions, the Public Servants Association (PSA), balloted its members about a potential strike.
At the start of the negotiations in March, unions demanded a wage increase of inflation plus four per cent in the 2021-22 fiscal year, as well as better housing payments and a risk allowance because of COVID-19.
Annual inflation was 5.2 per cent in May.
Restraining rising wages is one of the key pillars of the National Treasury’s fiscal consolidation strategy.
Last year the Government won a court case over its refusal to pay the final stage of an already negotiated wage deal.
The PSA has challenged that ruling in a higher court.
Pretoria, 7 July 2021
