The first day of a nationwide strike by South African Revenue Services (Sars) employees saw a number of taxpayers turned away from branches.
The workers affiliated with the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union(Nehawu) and the Public Servants Association (PSA) downed tools on Tuesday morning after wage negotiations deadlocked.
The employees have rejected a 1.39% wage increase offer, tabled by Sars.
The workers are demanding a 12% increase across the board. Sars has refused to budge, saying the demand is simply unaffordable until it receives further funding from the fiscus.
Nehawu spokesperson, Lwazi Nkolonzi says workers will remain on strike until a revised offer is on the table.
“The National Education Health and Allied Workers Union has recommenced strike action at Sars as of today the 12th of July. This comes after our members had rejected the revised offer tabled by SARS of 1.3 and 9%, and our members had mandated the union at its national meeting that we had convened, that we should embark on strike action and recommence the strike action because Sars has failed to come to the table by offering them something substantial and worth considering. So the strike is beginning today on the 12th of July and it will commence up until Sars offers something concrete that our members could accept.”
Strike action by SARS workers resumes today 12 July 2022:
The industrial action has left many taxpayers visiting Sars offices frustrated and disappointed.
“Because today I took a day off from work, so I don’t know when I’m going get another day off so it’s very stressful. I feel like we’re making a habit of losing money as a country like this is not productive.”
South Africa’s revenue collector says it only has R70 million for baseline increases for bargaining unit employees.
In a statement, Sars said it does not decide on its own funding and is dependent on an annual allocation made through a process managed by National Treasury.
