SA CLOSED FOR BUSINESS
No goods or person will be allowed to leave or enter SA
The Public Servants Association (PSA) has warned that South Africa will be closed for business this Thursday as the South African unions embark on a countrywide strike after it failed to reach a wage agreement with government.
PSA Assistant General Manager, Reuben Maleka, has warned those travelling to South Africa from other countries to do so by Wednesday because the ports of entry will be shut on Thursday. He said no goods or person will be allowed to leave or enter the country because all public servants will be on the streets demonstrating.
The mass action will affect ports of entry and matric exams. The PSA represents over 200,000 civil servants, Maleka has said.
Major unions representing over 800,000 public sector workers have been granted a certificate of non-resolution by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration ( CCMA), setting the stage for a massive strike in South Africa.
The certificate was issued on the 1st of November following a collapse in negotiations between union leaders and the national government.
South African Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, announced in his budget speech in October that a wage increase of 3% would be implemented unilaterally for public sector workers, pushing through the hike despite a demand from unions for a 10% increase.
Union leaders said that workers will continue with lunch hour pickets until further updates, details and marching orders are given for “when are we striking, when we are staying away, and when we are doing a national shutdown.”
One of the unions, Nehawu, said that the strike action is for all workers in the public sector, from level 1 to level 12, who are under the purview of the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) .
It shot down criticism about public sector workers being essential workers - and thus should not be allowed to strike,
adding that it was up to the government to remedy the situation.
“It is not us who will be responsible for the disruption of critical services. It is the employer, it is the government that has mobilised and united us. They issued an invitation for us to go to the streets.”
Nehawu said that if the government wants to argue that public services are essential services, then essential workers should be treated as essential - which includes fair pay.
It said that workers have had to suffer for the last three years, yet politicians - who earn 17 times more than workers and are responsible for the mismanagement of funds - are not any worse off.
“They are taking their salaries from the same public purse, but it’s us who are punished. We are punished for the mismanagement of funds and maladministration in government,” it said.
In response, unions began picketing outside of the PSCBC office this week as leaders met to negotiate a path forward.
In his response to the South African media, Department of Public Service and Administration Director General, Yoliswa Makhasi, noted that the remuneration of the state’s 1.3 million workers accounts for almost a third of total government expenditure, and keeping it in check is key to the National Treasury’s plans to rein in the budget deficit and bring runaway state debt under control.
The medium-term budget policy statement makes adjustments to cater for additional funds for unforeseeable expenditures. In the current case, the unforeseen spending is estimated at R14 billion to cater for the 3% salary adjustment, Makhasi said.