PARLIAMENT - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's pronouncements on cutting the wage bill by offering early retirement to state workers was akin to declaring war on public servants, the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA) said on Wednesday.
In a statement released shortly after Mboweni tabled the 2019/20 national budget in Parliament, the PSA said Mboweni "failed dismally" in being candid about what lay behind the country's economic crisis.
"There has not been any arrest or effort to recoup money from his comrades who have been implicated in corruption. Instead, public servants must ‘gracefully’ pay the price for this by sacrificing on agreed terms and conditions of employment,” said Ivan Fredericks, PSA general manager.
“From these statements, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Service have clearly declared war on public servants. Whilst plans for early retirements were previously denied publicly, it is clear that the employer cannot be trusted as it was stated that the details of the early retirement framework will already be outlined during the course of the week.