By Johnathan Paoli
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has come out strongly against a proposed 4.1% salary increase for politicians and other public office bearers, describing the recommendation as “tone-deaf”, morally indefensible and dangerously disconnected from the daily struggles of ordinary South Africans.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Cosatu Parliamentary Coordinator Matthew Parks rejected the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers’ recommendation, which would see salary increases for members of Cabinet, Parliament, provincial legislatures, municipal councils, government commissions and the judiciary for the 2025/2026 financial year.
Parks said the proposed increase sends a damaging signal to an increasingly frustrated public, reinforcing perceptions of a political elite insulated from the economic hardship facing millions.
“It is beyond shameful that in the same year the government claimed it had no money and imposed a VAT hike on working people, this Commission could propose such a
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