He accused Ramaphosa, finance minister Enoch Godongwane and labour minister Thulas Nxesi of being unsympathetic to workers. He expressed dismay they had been sending a string of memorandums to government, without any response.
He said they would give the government seven days to address their woes.
Just before Cosatu provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize took to the podium to address the hundreds of workers, two marchers set the tone for him by burning incense.
Mkhize said the 10% would help public servants retain their buying power.
“We are gathered here to express, on behalf of thousands of workers, our anger and frustration. We are united against the horrifying conditions we face. We represent those who could not openly voice their disgust at how this government treats them,” said Mkhize.
He said the government had always been proud to be caring, but civil servants had a different story to tell.
Mkhize said the workers were demanding an end to the government's attack on collective bargaining and wanted it to show its commitment by implementing a resolution that was signed in 2018.
They were also demanding the filling of vacant funded and unfunded positions.
“We demand the insourcing of all outsourced services which in the main are owned by politicians,” said Mkhize. He said the challenges faced by government workers should also be understood in a context of deep austerity measures implemented by the ANC.
He said in 2021 the then finance minister Tito Mboweni had presented an austere budget wherein he had celebrated the Treasury’s apparent successes in its attack on collective bargaining.
“Mboweni had proudly stated the government did not implement public service salary increases for the 2020/21 financial year and that performance bonuses are already being phased out,” said Mkhize.
Mkhize said since democracy in 1994, they had never witnessed an attack on the bargaining process and workers' rights “in this manner”.
“This attack started with the refusal to fill posts, reneging on the implementation of resolution 1 of 2018. Most recently we have also had the introduction of gratuity payments which do not progress workers in terms of deferred income,” said Mkhize.
Mlungisi Ndlovu, the provincial manager of PSA in the province, said many workers had felt the spiralling cost of living. He said they were not satisfied with the 3% increase imposed by the government.
“Things are so bad that some workers contemplate suicide,” said Ndlovu.
He said a housing allowance increase should be added to their list of demands and the vacant positions they were demanding should be given to capable people.
He said a lot of money goes to Eskom, yet government employees are made to suffer.
KZN public servants take their wage grievances to government's door
Image: Mfundo Mkhize
Public servants who staged a march through the streets of central Durban on Tuesday have fired the first salvo to get the government to meet their demands for a 10% wage increase.
They warned that if the government continued to disregard their demands, it could change the electoral fortunes of the ruling party.
Nehawu general secretary Zola Saphetha said: “We want to remind them it’s the same workers who account for a sizeable share of the electorate. We can easily mobilise workers to get rid of the government.”
He said they had been left disappointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was once a shop steward but had now turned his back on workers.
“They know how shops stewards fight. We have these rights today because of what they did. We cannot undo those rights,” said Saphetha.
He said they were prepared to die in defence of their rights. Saphetha expressed his disappointment at what he said was the government’s reluctance to meet its end of the bargain, adding they were willing to take their marches to parliament.
He accused Ramaphosa, finance minister Enoch Godongwane and labour minister Thulas Nxesi of being unsympathetic to workers. He expressed dismay they had been sending a string of memorandums to government, without any response.
He said they would give the government seven days to address their woes.
Just before Cosatu provincial secretary Edwin Mkhize took to the podium to address the hundreds of workers, two marchers set the tone for him by burning incense.
Mkhize said the 10% would help public servants retain their buying power.
“We are gathered here to express, on behalf of thousands of workers, our anger and frustration. We are united against the horrifying conditions we face. We represent those who could not openly voice their disgust at how this government treats them,” said Mkhize.
He said the government had always been proud to be caring, but civil servants had a different story to tell.
Mkhize said the workers were demanding an end to the government's attack on collective bargaining and wanted it to show its commitment by implementing a resolution that was signed in 2018.
They were also demanding the filling of vacant funded and unfunded positions.
“We demand the insourcing of all outsourced services which in the main are owned by politicians,” said Mkhize. He said the challenges faced by government workers should also be understood in a context of deep austerity measures implemented by the ANC.
He said in 2021 the then finance minister Tito Mboweni had presented an austere budget wherein he had celebrated the Treasury’s apparent successes in its attack on collective bargaining.
“Mboweni had proudly stated the government did not implement public service salary increases for the 2020/21 financial year and that performance bonuses are already being phased out,” said Mkhize.
Mkhize said since democracy in 1994, they had never witnessed an attack on the bargaining process and workers' rights “in this manner”.
“This attack started with the refusal to fill posts, reneging on the implementation of resolution 1 of 2018. Most recently we have also had the introduction of gratuity payments which do not progress workers in terms of deferred income,” said Mkhize.
Mlungisi Ndlovu, the provincial manager of PSA in the province, said many workers had felt the spiralling cost of living. He said they were not satisfied with the 3% increase imposed by the government.
“Things are so bad that some workers contemplate suicide,” said Ndlovu.
He said a housing allowance increase should be added to their list of demands and the vacant positions they were demanding should be given to capable people.
He said a lot of money goes to Eskom, yet government employees are made to suffer.
He added they were in unison with all other unions who are fighting to improve their livelihoods.
KZN provincial secretary of the Federation of Unions of SA Thembeka Thwala, echoed Ndlovu’s sentiments. She said the government had insulted workers with the 3% increase.
“Inflation is high. This is not doing justice to the workers who have to travel to work,” said Thwala.
The deputy director-general in the premier's office, Sibusiso Ngubane, who accepted the memorandum from the unions, said they had noted the grievances.
“We will make sure the memorandum finds its way to the office the president and that of his minister of finance,” said Ngubane.
Meanwhile, services at Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg were affected by Tuesday's protests as some workers were reportedly prevented from reporting for work.
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