Nxesi booed as public servants give govt 7 days to respond to wage demands

Scores of civil servants marched to the national treasury offices in Pretoria on Tuesday, in a wage protest led by the three main federations, Saftu, Cosatu, and Fedusa.

Among the demands, public servants have called for a moratorium on retrenchments in the sector, an end to outsourcing at state-owned entities, and for government to end what they call an attack on collective bargaining.

Nursing union Denosa’s Kwena Masemola read out the list of 13 demands, which also include the call for the reversal of austerity measures that they say are targeted at workers in the public sector: “We demand that government PSCBC as a legitimate institution for social dialogue and stop disempowering it. We demand a real increment of 10% that will assist to retain the buying power of civil servants.”

Labour Minister and acting Minister of Public Service and Administration Thulas Nxesi was met by a hostile crowd when he arrived to receive the memorandum.

Nxesi was booed by the marchers who also hurled insults and objects onto the stage. The minister has been accused of misleading the public by saying government is offering a sum total of 7.5% - which, as he explains, includes a non-pensionable cash allowance of R1 000 after tax, which amounts to 4.5%, and a 3% pensionable increase across the board.

Nehawu’s Mike Shingange said government has sought to wrongly imply that unions walked away from the negotiating table.

“We went to 21 days to consult our members, and we came back and said our members are not accepting it. How on earth do they say we left the negotiations? Minister Thulas, we are here to say come back to the bargaining council. Give us that 7.5%. We are not crazy to reject 7.5%, bring it there.”

Marchers refused Nxesi an opportunity to address them.

Unions have vowed to go on a full-blown strike on 2 December, should government not respond satisfactorily.