Fin24 reports that the SA Revenue Service (SARS) maintains that it will continue to run all of its operations – including customs and excise – without a hitch despite the national strike by unions at the tax body, which began last week.

The Public Servants Association (PSA) and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) embarked on a strike at SARS after the revenue service and unions could not break a deadlock over wages during negotiations. The strike kicked off days after SARS offered to channel savings from 2021 towards paying salaries, but maintained that it could not afford to accede to the unions' demands for a CPI plus 7% increase. While SARS says it received no formal response to the offer, a strike ensued after it was made. In a statement, SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said the first day of the strike proceeded in an orderly manner, without incident, and due to the wide range of online services, disruptions to the tax authority's day-to-day operations remained minimal. Nehawu spokesperson Lwazi Nkolisi said while its industrial action continued, the union would seek a mandate from membership nationally to determine whether it should accept SARS's latest offer or continue with its industrial action. A PSA spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24

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