Mungo Soggot
The Cabinet has given Minister of Public Service and Administration Zola Skweyiya an extra R300-million to pay civil servants and fund the transformation of the public service.
The increase is about 10% of the government’s R3,4-billion budget for what the public service department terms “the improvement of conditions of service”. The increase was agreed in negotiations with the Public Service Bargaining Council and submitted to the Cabinet last month.
The department confirmed this week that the Cabinet had approved the extra allocation, R100-million of which will be spent directly on salaries.
A department deputy director generals, Neva Makgetla, said the remaining R200-million would be spent on “transformation”, which could include training and salary upgrades.
She said education would get R140-million, some of which would be spent on the recruitment of teachers. The South African National Defence Force and the health and public administration departments would get R10-million each, while the South African Police Service would receive R30-million.
Officials said the public service union generally saw the public service department’s budget vote as a first bid in wage negotiations, forcing the government to obtain extra money from the treasury each year. The extra allocation is therefore predictable, if at odds with the government’s commitment to fiscal conservatism.
Last month’s wage accord also included an intriguing government decision to arrange a one-off pay-out of R1,5-billion to casual workers employed by the state who were previously denied key benefits.
The pay-out will be funded by diverting about 1% of the government’s contribution to the state pension fund. The money will go to employees, such as forestry workers and road sweepers, who did not benefit from the state pension fund under the previous government.
A Public Service Association representative said this week he had not heard that the Cabinet had approved the allocation, but said it appeared to match what was agreed last month.