Will Cyril Ramaphosa blink on wage bill? Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi says it is time for the president to take leadership and rein in Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, who announced plans to slash the public sector wage bill by R160.2bn over three years
Labour federation Cosatu has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to “lead the country and his Cabinet”, and not allow ministers to make far-reaching pronouncements on policy issues that do not fall within their ambit, and which cause rifts in society.
What we said, and will again reiterate to Ramaphosa, is that we do not appreciate many voices emanating from his Cabinet ministers.Although the initial agenda had been about determining the direction of state-owned enterprises , Mboweni’s new proposals are now also set to be put on the table. “What we said, and will again reiterate to Ramaphosa, is that we do not appreciate many voices emanating from his Cabinet ministers. You hear this one say: ‘Sell SAA, we don’t need it’ after a resolution to the contrary has been taken by the ruling party’s national executive committee. Then there is a position by the ANC that says: ‘Do not sell SAA.’
The workers’ money will be circulating among themselves, rather than [having] the money being used in other projects that do not empower the workers themselvesThis has left Ramaphosa between a rock and a hard place: either he supports the finance minister he tasked with rescuing the country’s finances or the trade union federation – which, together with the SACP, has been his most solid ally in the fractured ANC.
“So,” said one of the attendees, “workers are going to benefit from their money, which is not like benefiting other people, like when the Public Investment Corporation bailed out private companies.City Press understands that Ramaphosa pandered to the union without giving a hint of the pending announcement by his finance minister.
“This country was established through institutions of social dialogue, Nedlac being one of them and the bargaining council being the other – meaning, the minister was supposed to make pronouncements after a resolution was reached, following a collective agreement by Nedlac social partners and government. But he jumped the gun,” he said.
“Instead of a response, the government sent us its public sector wage bill documents the night before the minister’s speech,” said Shingange. While Cosatu maintains that Mboweni was not within his rights to make the announcement, City Press has seen a document, titled Management of the Public Service Wage Bill, which was presented by Treasury and the department of public service and administration on Tuesday to the unions and the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council .
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