President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under fire from disgruntled labour federations after he signed a 3% wage increase for public office bearers including judges, MPs and traditional leaders.
The public office bearers, including cabinet ministers and their deputies, are among the most highly paid officials in SA, taking home more than R1m a year each and enjoying perks such as travel allowances, security and generators in their state-supplied housing.
Meanwhile, the country is dogged by the socioeconomic crises of slow economic growth, high joblessness and entrenched poverty and inequality.
The rising cost of living has prompted several unions to demand above-inflation wage hikes to offset high transport, fuel, food and electricity costs.
Headline inflation eased to 6.8% in April from 7.1% in March and 7% in February.
In a statement at the weekend, the presidency said Ramaphosa made a determination to increase the salaries of public office bearers by 3% with effect from April 1 2022.
“This determination follows recommendations made by the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of POBs [public office bearers] on the annual salary for all public office bearers, submitted to the president on April 17 2023,” the presidency said.
“The commission recommended 3.8% salary increment for all public office bearers including members of the independent constitutional institutions, judges, magistrates and traditional leaders for the financial year 2022/23.”
Having considered the commission’s recommendations and serious economic challenges facing the country, “the president has decided that the salaries of all public office bearers be increased by 3%".
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said in his written submission in February he did not support the plan.
“However, the minister proposes that a 1.5% increase plus a one-off cash gratuity to be granted for all categories of POBs, which increase was offered to senior management service members in the public service, would be an appropriate increase for POBs.”
Godongwana intimated the 3.8% hike would translate to a “6.8% accumulated baseline increase, which will result in a far greater than the 4.5% granted to the public service”.
In his medium-term budget policy statement in October, former trade unionist Godongwana implemented a 3% wage offer for public servants, saying it was in the best interest of the fiscus. Public servants were demanding increases of up to 10%.
The R665bn public sector wage bill has been flagged by ratings agencies and economists as one of the biggest threats to SA’s credit outlook, blighted by slow economic growth worsened by prolonged power cuts.
Cosatu acting spokesperson Matthew Parks said the labour federation, a key ally of the governing ANC, sees the raise as a “tone deaf and embarrassing decision” that Ramaphosa should have rejected.
“What is most galling is the president chose to ignore the recommendation by Treasury for a 1.5% increase for political office bearers and judges and instead opted to increase it to 3%. World Bank reports ... show that SA remains the most unequal country in the world, and SA continues to be burdened with an unemployment rate of 42.6% and rising.”
Load-shedding, the rising cost of living, corruption and a stagnant economy have all happened under the watch and leadership of political office bearers, Parks said. “They do not deserve the packages they currently earn let alone an increase in their salaries.
“Judges all the way to the Constitutional Court rejected the case of public service workers who wanted the government to pay them the money that was due to them from the third leg of a three-year agreement ... Yet the judiciary expects increases for itself citing the rising costs of living while it thought little of dismissing the same rationale for poorly paid cleaners, teachers, security guards and other public servants. The huge salaries and benefits paid to political office bearers and senior bureaucrats are the source of the existing inequalities and unacceptable income disparities that currently exist in the public service.”
Cosatu wants the terms of reference for the Independent Commission Remuneration on Public Office Bearers extended to require it to consult with the public and not only “members of cabinet who have a direct conflict of interest in its recommendations”.
‘Callous attitude’
SA Federation of Trade Unions spokesperson Trevor Shaku said the federation notes Ramaphosa’s “callous attitude” to increase public office bearers’ salaries amid a concerted effort to contain public servants’ wages to below inflation.
Shaku said the labour federation rejects the increase because public office bearers already earn “obscene” salaries.
“In the context of the damage they have caused (and are still causing) to our country, these public office bearers do not deserve any increase. They receive benefits [such as] car allowances, free residence, free flights and free security. The increase in their salaries is quite unjustifiable, especially when the Treasury is targeting the compensation bill for public service workers as a site of fiscal consolidation.”
National Council of Trade Unions general secretary Narius Moloto said the wage increase is a “spit in the face of the poor” as public office bearers are already living large and are not affected by the rising cost of living.
Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) general secretary Riefdah Ajam said: “The approved increase is well below trending inflation; however, given the fiscal deficit, nonperformance of state departments, high level of maladministration and SA’s extremely high level of corruption, the office bearers, as oversight body and direction-given constituents, [have] dismally failed the country,” Ajam said.
“SA is close to a dysfunctional state. The question whether the office bearers deserve an increase becomes moot when weighing all these factors.”
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