N PROVINCE STANDS BY MASS RETRENCHMENTS

THE Northern Province administration will not reverse its decision to force more than 2000 civil servants over the age of 60 to take retrenchment packages. Provincial spokesman Jack Mokobi said on Tuesday that the affected employees have been given a month’s notice, and were told to quit their jobs at the end of August as part of cuts in the size of the civil service and the wage bill. The Northern Province administration announced last week that everyone over the age of 60 would be retired by the end of August. The move was announced after Northern Province premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi advised public service unions that it was being done in terms of existing legislation.