The SA Revenue Service (Sars) said the “disruption” caused by a wage strike which kicked off on Wednesday was minimal and stressed that customs operations at ports of entry had been without major interruptions.
This after workers affiliated to the Public Servants Association (PSA) and National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), which jointly represent the majority of the about 13,000-strong Sars workforce, downed tools demanding above-inflation increases.
“Due to the wide range of online services, disruption to the operations was minimal. Over the next few days, we will continue to monitor developments at our branch offices. Our website will continually be updated to advise the public on how to engage with Sars to fulfil their required obligations. Taxpayers are encouraged to avoid coming to a Sars office,” the tax agency said.
It said customs operations at ports of entry, especially borders, had not had major interruptions. “All customs border posts are operational with the contingencies in place, mitigating the impact of the industrial action. Sars customs will continue to rely on the support of other government agencies across all border posts, especially from the SA Police [Service] to ensure that there is continued operation.”
The industrial action comes after Nehawu and PSA, which are demanding increases of 11.5% and 12% respectively, rejected Sars’s revised offer of R500m, which the unions said would translate to a wage increase of only 1.3% and a R3,000 one-off cash gratuity.
The agency previously offered workers a 0% increase, which was rejected by the unions, whose demands are above the 5.9% headline inflation rate the SA Reserve Bank has forecast for 2022.
Striking workers marched to the Treasury and Sars headquarters in Tshwane, where they delivered a list of demands, while another national march was held in Cape Town, as well as provincial marches across the country.
Sars said in the statement released on Wednesday afternoon that it believed its R500m offer, to which it “received no response”, was the best under the prevailing socioeconomic challenges facing the country. “Sars is also limited by the resources available to it from the funding grant,” the statement said.
Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter said while the tax agency recognised the workers’ rights to strike, the important work of Sars has to continue “and we will take whatever steps necessary [to] balance the impact of the strike with our responsibility of providing important services to taxpayers and collecting all tax revenues due”.
“This very revenue pays the salaries of government employees and provides the necessary resources to provide public goods and services. The work of Sars is transformative and enables government to build a capable [state] that fosters sustainable economic growth and social development in the interest and wellbeing of all South Africans,” Kieswetter said.
He said he understood the financial challenges faced by employees. Sars employs about 13,000 people, costing the agency nearly R8bn annually and making salaries the biggest cost driver in its total expenditure of R11.7bn.
At the weekend, Sars offered the unions R70m to fund salary increases and R430m as a one-off gratuity payment for the 2021/2022 fiscal year. The R500m offer was contained in a confidential document seen by Business Day.
“I understand that our offer is not what our employees want, but it holds the real possibility of resolving the current industrial action at a time where employees in the entire public service are affected,” Kieswetter said.
“The doors of negotiations remain open and we are ready to work with our colleagues in labour to look at ways to improve the overall value proposition to our employees.”
PSA assistant GM Reuben Maleka said: “We didn’t get any invitation from Sars to go back to the negotiating table, so we are continuing with the strike. The first day was very successful, there was a total shutdown everywhere.”
Nehawu spokesperson Lwazi Nkolonzi said: “The way forward is simple: We are continuing with the strike up until Sars comes to us and accedes to the demands workers have put on the table.”
Nkolonzi said that Sars’s assessment of the strike’s effect on operations as minimal was a discussion for another day. “We know for a fact that all services came to a standstill today [Wednesday] and it will continue like that until our demands are met. No work will take place. There shall be a total shutdown.”
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