BL Premium reports that, as was widely expected, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana pencilled in a 3% increase for public sector wages, an offer he said was in the best interest of the fiscus and public service workers.

Presenting his medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in parliament on Wednesday, Godongwana stated: “Implementing it (3%) does not undermine the collective bargaining process. We believe that the facilitation process has helped all parties get to this point. Therefore, the spending estimates we are tabling today include this amount. This offer will be implemented through the payroll system, and backdated to April 2022.” Godongwana noted that the final offer included the continuation of a non-pensionable cash allowance for the current financial year. “This translates into an average of R1,000 per employee per month until March 2023 and a pensionable salary increase of 3% for public servants. The cash gratuity comes to 4.5% and if you add the 3% that’s 7.5%. So that’s where we are with the wage negotiations,” Godongwana said at a media briefing. He warned that higher-than-budgeted public service wage costs would strain fiscal resources and negatively affect the government’s effort to stabilise the public finances. Godongwana also said that additional fiscal measures or reductions in headcounts would be required to contain overall compensation spending. To avoid pre-empting the next wage negotiation process, “no provisions have been made for wage increases in 2023/2024 though increases will need to remain within the available fiscal resources so as not to compromise other spending priorities.”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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