LABOUR federation COSATU on Tuesday launched a blistering attack on President Cyril Ramaphosa and his administration for betraying workers following the Constitutional Court ruling on the public sector wage bill..
The Constitutional Court ruled on the public sector wage bill on Monday, siding with the Labour Appeal Court which found that the agreement was unlawful.
It said enforcing the agreement would cost the fiscus R29 billion, which it does not have.
The labour federation has been drifting away from Ramaphosa’s administration in recent months, mainly as a result of his government’s economic development approach, which they find problematic as it appeared to be tiptoeing on issues in order not to upset big business.
COSATU, a key ally of the African National Congress (ANC), said it was aggrieved because the Constitutional Court sorely focused on the internal mandating processes of the government, and failed to acknowledge that the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) was given the go ahead to enter into an agreement with unions by the Cabinet.
The highest court in the land found that as the wage increase had not been budgeted for, and National Treasury had indicated this to the state’s representatives during the bargaining process, the agreement was unlawful.
The court’s outcome means that the South African public sector workers’ wages have been frozen for two years.
“”This is a betrayal of the workers by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration,” said COSATU spokesperson Sizwe Pamla.
“In dealing with a stagnant economy that has been mismanaged to the ground by policymakers, and in reducing the budget-deficit, as it always happens in crisis situations, the government has decided to target public servants. In this regard, the focus is on the lower levels in the public service hierarchy rather than the bloated managerial or executive levels.”
The federation said in a statement that it was deeply disappointed by the Constitutional Court judgement regarding the non-implementation of Resolution 1 of 2018, particularly the adjustment of salaries for public service workers.
It further said the judgement also imposes the National Treasury on the collective bargaining process and gives it veto powers that allows it to act as a super ministry.
“This outcome will likely cause labour instability in the public service because workers will never accept a multi- year agreement again. It is disappointing that this ANC administration is reversing workers gains after all the support workers have given to it,” said Pamla.
“This year billions were given away in tax cuts when that money could have been used to increase government spending. Instead of clearly indicating that the rich must bear the burden of fixing the government’s balance sheet after decades of rising profits, in a country which is the most unequal in the world and whose inequality is grossly racialised – the government is going back to attacking the public service, at the time when there is a need to build the capacity of the state to accelerate delivery.”
COSATU has also called on all unions to “unite, break down political divides, and bring workers of all political persuasions together to fight a common oligarchic class that is hellbent on crushing the working class.”
Cosatu has been instrumental in Ramaphosa’s rise to the highest office in the land, having been among the formations that endorsed him and campaigned for him before the ANC 2017 Nasrec conference.
– Inside Politics
