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BusinessLive reports that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has called for public sector wage restructuring as the government moves to reduce the risk to the improved fiscal outlook.
“We need some wage restructuring of some kind. What is in my head is to reduce the amount of money we allocate for the wage bill,” Godongwana said on Wednesday at a media briefing ahead of his budget speech in parliament. Godongwana added that restructuring did not necessarily mean reducing the headcount, but avoiding higher than inflation increases. He said these were modalities which would be discussed with public sector unions during a summit at the end of March. The public servants’ salary bill is regarded as one of the biggest threats to SA’s finances, and successful efforts in slashing it are regarded as vital for the country to claw back fiscal stability. While trade union federation Cosatu, a key ANC alliance partner, has backed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to clean up the government, it is not on the same page about the push to slash the wage bill. The union previously said it condemned the government’s fixation on singling out the public sector wage bill and its “deafening silence” regarding wastage, corruption and fruitless expenditure incurred through the huge outsourcing of public service functions. “A public sector labour summit is scheduled to take place as from March 28 to 31. This summit is an important opportunity for stakeholders to engage on building a sustainable public service and remuneration guidelines,” the minister stated. The Treasury detailed the worrying increase of public sector wages over the years. It also warned of job cuts if salary adjustments exceeded compensation ceilings.
Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive
Read too, Finance Minister: Public service wage bill risk to SA’s fiscal framework, at Moneyweb
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page