Day: October 6, 2022

Despite the prevailing difficult fiscal position, government believes the 3% salary increase offer to public servants is “generous”.

This is the view of the Acting Minister of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), Thulas Nxesi and Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana.

This as a deadlock persists in wage negotiations with labour unions. 

The Ministers said the current round of negotiations commenced with government.

Government, they said, is grappling with a “balancing act” between wage increases and additional headcounts, saying “there’s always competition” between the two. 

“Higher than inflationary or unaffordable adjustments on the salaries of the current public servants would mean that there’ll be less money available to increase headcounts in critical frontline services.

“The State capacity in Education, Police and Health has not been increasing in line with the growing population over the years, while wages have increased by an average of 2% above CPI between 2008/09 and 2019/20.”

As an example, the Ministers said, the average number of learners per teacher in public ordinary schools decreased from a ratio of 32.3 in 2015/16 to 31.4 in 2021/22, while the number of police officers per 100 000 population decreased from 260 to 236 during the same period.

The number of nurses per 100 000 uninsured population also decreased in this period.

“It is for this reason that additional allocations amounting to approximately R50 billion over the 2022 MTEF were made available to Education, Police and Health to address the wage bill spending and service load pressures.

“Therefore, it becomes imperative that the current and future wage agreements strive to strike a balance between remuneration increases and the need for additional headcounts in frontline services in order to keep up with the increasing demand for public services.”

Labour union demands

Initially, unions demanded a 10% across-the-board increase for this financial year. If acceded to, it would have cost government around R49 billion.

The Ministers said government proposes that employees continue to be paid a non-pensionable cash gratuity, an average of R1 000 after tax to all employees across salary levels 1-12.

“This amounts to an average of 4.5% of the R20.5bn allocated for salaries in the 2022/23 compensation budget.  Organised labour rejected this offer.

“After government presented its revised offer on the baseline, labour then demanded the continuation of the cash gratuity, which amounted to an average of 4.5% on average for all employees, with an additional baseline increase. This is a shift by organised labour from the original position of a baseline increase only.”

In response, government presented an improved offer of a non-pensionable cash gratuity of an average of R1 000 per month after tax, being an average of 4.5% plus an additional 1.5% on the baseline.

“At this point, labour revised their demand from 10% to 8% on the baseline, plus the continuation of the non-pensionable cash gratuity,” the Ministers said.

Employer’s revised offer

Government presented a revised and improved offer on the baseline to 2% plus the non-pensionable cash gratuity, amounting to an average of 4.5% of the R20.5 billion that is on the budget.

“The 2% amounted to an additional R8.9 billion over and above the budgeted of R20.5 billion, costing government a total of R29.5 billion. Labour revised their demand to 6.5% across-the-board baseline increase, plus the non-pensionable cash gratuity.

“The employer further indicated that any further increase, above the 2% on the baseline, would require additional funding to be sourced from the Compensation of Employees’ budget, and would require an introduction of cost containment measures in the Public Service,” the Ministers said.

Labour rejected the employer’s proposal on cost containment measures that were required to cover an additional 1% to make an offer of 3% on the baseline.

They said although organised labour declared a deadlock over the 2% increase on the baseline and a non-pensionable cash allowance, government continues to engage labour “in good faith”.

Facilitation process

As part of negotiating in good faith, the Ministers said government proposed a facilitation process as part of deadlock-breaking mechanisms at the end of August.

This process resulted in a Draft Collective Agreement, proposing a 3% baseline increase, plus the continuation of the non-pensionable cash allowance to all employees, payable until 31 March 2023.

Employer’s current and final offer

At this stage, government’s offer on the table is as follows:

A total of 7.5% offer packaged as follows:

The continuation of the current non-pensionable cash allowance of R1 000 for this financial year across all salary levels; and

A pensionable increase of 3% across the board.

“This offer is beside the 1.5% pay progression payable to all qualifying employees.Therefore, if the pay progression is added to the total package, the total employer offer amounts to a 9% increase.

“We have continued to ensure that public servants are reasonably cushioned against the rising cost of living, without crowding out social expenditure. It is a difficult balancing act. Therefore, the misinformation being peddled by some unions in the media is not only unfortunate but also very opportunistic and disingenuous,” the Ministers said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is gearing up for voter registration to be held this weekend for three municipal ward by-elections scheduled to take place on 23 November 2022. 

In a statement on Thursday, the IEC said that voting stations in the wards listed will be open this Saturday, 8 October 2022 and Sunday, 9 October 2022, from 08h00 to 17h00.

This is to allow all eligible voters to register and for current voters to check their registration details and to provide/update address details where necessary.

“Voters should take their identity document (ID) with them – either a green barcoded ID book, a smartcard ID or a valid Temporary ID Certificate. They will also need to complete their physical home address on registration or provide sufficient particularities of their place of residence. Documented proof of address (e.g. a municipal account) is not required,” the IEC said.

The Electoral Commission said that voters may also check and update their details at their local (municipal) Electoral Commission (IEC) office, weekdays during office hours.

Voters are further reminded that “it is a criminal offence to register and vote in a ward in which they are not ordinarily resident.”

By- elections will be held in the following wards:

Mpumalanga

Ward 25 Govan Mbeki – MP307, with 6598 registered voters, which became vacant as a result of the councillor’s resignation. Registration and voting will take place at the following stations:

Voting District/Station Number    Voting Station Details

54260029    Laerskool Trichardt

54260445    Laerskool Goedehoop

54420072    Terranova Conference Centre.

54420151    Trichardt Ebenezar Church

Ward 04 Nkomazi – MP324, with 6868 registered voters, which became vacant due to the death of the councillor. Registration and voting will take place at the following stations:

Voting District/Station Number    Voting Station Details

54750012    Mjokwane Secondary School

54750045    Sekusile Primary School

54750056    Naas Emmanuel Church

54750078    The Salvation Army (Kamachekeza)

54750089    Tholulwazi Multi Purpose Centre

54880690    House Of Hope

Western Cape

Ward 38 City of Cape Town – CPT, with 16 253 registered voters, which became vacant as a result of the death of the councillor. Registration and voting will take place at the following stations:

Voting District/Station Number    Voting Station Details

97090083    Phakama Community Health Centre

97091185    Eyethu Educare Centre

97091196    Andile Priamry School

97091208    Independent Methodist Church In Africa

97091860    Stormont Madubela Primary School

97091871    Hlazo Mini Hall

97091905    Mkhanyiseli Primary School

The IEC said that Special voting will take place at voting stations as well as through home visits on 22 November 2022 between 08h00 and 17h00.

Voters wishing to apply to cast a special vote can apply at their local IEC office during office hours between 7 November and 11 November 2022.

Applications for special votes can also be made online via the IEC’s website, www.elections.org.za(link is external). Once voters have applied online they will receive an SMS notifying them of the outcome when their application has been processed. They can also check the status of their special vote application online at www.elections.org.za(link is external).

“Voters can also apply for special votes via cellphone by SMSing their identity number to 32249 (charged at R1). The SMS application facility is only available for those applying to cast a special vote at their voting station and NOT for home visits,” the IEC said.

For more information on these by-elections the public is urged to contact their local (municipal) IEC office weekdays during office hours. Contact details for all IEC offices are available on the IEC website at www.elections.org.za(link is external) under Contact Us.

Although South Africa no longer has COVID-19 restrictions in place, the Electoral Commission will continue to provide the following to safeguard voters and electoral staff:

Face masks for voluntary use by electoral staff

Hand sanitizers at voting stations and home visits

Disposable wipes for sanitisation of pens and voting station surfaces

Indelible ink dispensed from bottles using a single-use disposable cotton bud.

“Voters are no longer required to wear masks or face coverings within a voting station, although they may continue to do so at their discretion. Similarly, voters are no longer required to sanitise their hands on entry to voting stations, but may do so if they wish,” the IEC said.

Source: South African Government News Agency