The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) on Thursday said it was “angered by the absurd decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to increase the remuneration for public office bearers by three percent”.
Ramaphosa announced the salary hikes for public office bearers In a gazette published on Tuesday this week, effective retroactively from 1 April 2021.
“This irrational decision to increase the remuneration follows the recommendation by the Independent Commission for Remuneration of public office bearers,” said a statement issued by the NEHAWU Secretariat.
“In April 2022, as NEHAWU, we rejected in the strongest terms the proposed 3% salary increase for public office bearers by the Independent Commission for the remuneration and called on President Ramaphosa to ignore the recommendation.”
NEHAWU said it was “taken aback by this decision by President Ramaphosa amidst the context of a country confronted with a record high level of unemployment, extreme poverty and social inequality”.
The union said the salary hikes were “further infuriating” because the government has been “persistent with austerity programmes mainly focusing” on freezing salaries of public servants.
Even though the government says it wants to reduce the public sector wage bill, politicians and judges are to receive salary increases which public servants were denied, complained NEHAWU.
“The decision to increase remuneration for public office bearers occurs when government is hell-bent on not paying public service workers who are owed by the state as a result of refusing to implement the collective bargaining resolution – Resolution 1 of 2018,” said the union.
The union added: “This is even evident in the current round of public service wage negotiations, where the government tabled a zero percent increment and rejected all other demands tabled by trade unions.
“Since the beginning of the current public service wage negotiations, we have been frustrated by the employer at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council [PSCBC].
“They claim that government has no money yet the President has decided to be generous to public office bearers by giving them remuneration increases while workers and ordinary citizens are on the receiving end with many experiencing financial hardships amidst the escalating cost of living”.
The union said there was “absolutely” no justification to hike remuneration for public office bearers.
With all challenges confronting the country, they should be putting their energies and focus on getting the country on the road to recovery, the union said.
“We call on the President and his government to do the same for public service workers and pay them their salary increment as per the tabled demands at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council”.
