Government stares down public wage conundrum

TonyOctober 5, 2022

1 minute read

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Dondo Mogajane, director general of the South African National Treasury, Enoch Godongwana, South Africa’s finance minister, David Masondo, South Africa’s deputy finance minister, and Edward Kieswetter, commissioner of the South African Revenue Service (SARS), (left to right), make their way to the budget presentation in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022. South Africa cut corporate taxes and set more ambitious targets for reducing debt, after a surge in commodity prices led to higher-than-expected tax income. (Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A strike looms in the public sector, as a number of unions have rejected the government’s latest wage offer.

The public sector wage battle will weigh heavily on deliberations in the build-up to the medium-term budget speech later this month. Earlier this year, when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered his maiden budget speech, South Africa’s fiscal position had improved.

But the February budget flagged the public sector wage bill as a significant risk to the country’s purse.

The latest round of wage talks began in March. Since then, workers have found themselves in the throes of a cost of living crisis, which could force the government to fold on its hard line against more spending.