Finance Minister says state cannot afford to meet public sector's demands

By Khanyisa Tabata
09 May 2011

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has warned that the government cannot afford double-digit public servant wage demands because tax revenue has not recovered fully after the recession two years ago.

The government is offering a 5,2% pay hike across the board. This is marginally up from the 4,8% they had offered earlier this year. Unions were awarded a 7,5% hike last year after a strike that cost SA billions of rands.

Yesterday Independent Labour Caucus chairman Chris Klopper said he found it strange for the government to say that the unions he represented and the Congress of South African Trade Unions had been negotiating wage demands through the media.

Municipal workers’ union Samwu’s 220-thousand members also plan to strike countrywide from Friday to support their demands, which include an 18-percent increase.

Samwu has admitted that the strike has been planned to coincide with next Wednesday’s elections, saying no-one will listen to their demands after the vote.

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