Cape Town - The Public Servants' Association (PSA) on Monday said it was sticking to its guns and would not sign a final wage offer by government for public servants.
"We are the only union that declared a dispute and that is of course the mandate of our members, so we will never sign the agreement," Ivan Fredericks, PSA general manager, told the African News Agency (ANA) on Monday, shortly after government announced the majority of unions had accepted government's final offer.
The PSA said it had 242,000 members in the public service across the country.
Fredericks said they were in the process of getting a mandate from its members for possible industrial action.
"We are balloting our members to go on strike. If the majority [of unions] of course sign, it would be of no use for us."
Earlier on Monday, an official in the department of public service and administration told journalists they were still waiting for unions to sign the agreement after an "in-principle" dead was struck late on Friday night.
"The employer has signed the agreement and in terms of council procedures, the parties have a period of time to consider the agreement...," Kenny Govender, deputy director general in the department of public service and administration, said.
For 2018, the government is offering a seven-percent increase for salary levels one to seven; 6.5 percent for levels eight to 10; and six percent for salary levels 11 to 12. For both 2019 and 2020, it is offering projected inflation (CPI) plus one percent for levels one to seven; CPI plus 0.5 percent for levels eight to 10; and projected CPI for salary levels 11 to 12.