Govt Workers In SA Goes On Strike Over Pay

Following a stalemate in salary negotiations with the government, thousands of public employees in South Africa shut down their offices on Thursday, threatening to disrupt critical services.

One of South Africa’s major labor unions, the Public Servants Association, which has more than 235,000 members, led the work stoppage.

After Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi said last week that he would unilaterally apply a 3% hike across the board, the pay impasse between the government and its employees grew worse.

Unions demand a 6.5% increase.

With black signs stating “public servants are bleeding,” union members, including nurses, immigration employees, and some police officers, picketed outside the Treasury headquarters in Pretoria.

The home affairs, transportation, and border control agencies will “seriously be impacted” by the strike, the PSA had warned on Wednesday.

There was a “serious trust deficit” between the government and unions, it was said, and the minister’s “irresponsible behaviour” had further harmed those relationships.

In his October mini-budget statement, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana stated that the government could only afford an increase in the average pay of 3.3%.

The increase is less than South Africa’s inflation, which peaked in July at 7.8%.

South Africa’s economy recently took a blow when workers at the state rail and port firm launched a weeks-long strike which left mineral and fresh fruit exports stranded.