After a series of challenging negotiations, the majority of unions at the Public Service Negotiating Bargaining Council in South Africa have signed a two-year wage deal with the government.
The deal includes converting the current non-pensionable cash allowance into a pensionable salary, estimated at an average of 4.2%, this amount will be added to a 3.3% pensionable salary increase, resulting in an average total increase of 7.5% in the first year.
This new offer takes effect immediately, just in time for the beginning of the 2023/24 financial year on 1 April.
The Public Servants Association (PSA) and the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) are among the unions that have signed the deal. According to PSA spokesperson Claude Naicker, the agreement is binding on all unions that represent public servants, even those who did not sign it. The deal also projects that public service salaries for the 2024/2025 financial year will increase by a projected CPI, capped at 6.5%.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has refused to sign the deal, claiming that the government is reneging on the 2022/2023 ceasefire agreement that ended the recent healthcare strike.
Despite Nehawu’s opposition, the deal was signed in time for the new financial year, bringing much-needed relief to public servants.