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EFF opposes decision to cut R 5.3 billion in KZN public servants’ wage increases

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The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has voiced opposition to National Treasury’s decision to cut R 5.3 billion in KwaZulu-Natal public servants’ wage increases.

The provincial compensation budget cuts have prompted public servant representatives to take legal action against government.

The EFF’s KZN Chairperson is Vusumuzi Khoza says, “The current ANC government doesn’t care about the workers, whether workers get an increase they don’t care, whether workers lose their jobs they don’t care, as long as the very few of their colleagues and deployees are placed in strategic positions and earning large salaries, the workers are last. The reason being used is that there was COVID-19 and therefore their finances were affected. Where are the contingency plans, because there must always be some contingency plans set aside.”

Public sector wage bill

In February, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) rejected Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s proposal to cut the public sector wage bill by over R160 billion to manage the national debt.

This comes after the government’s proposal at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, that the 2018 collective agreement on salary adjustments for the public sector should be reviewed.

Cosatu said at the time that this is an attack on workers, and unions threatened a public sector shutdown if workers don’t get their salary increase in April.

 

 

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