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The Federation of Unions of South Africa said the re-imposition of Level 3 restrictions by the government was a “bittersweet” move in the light of the hardships being experienced by its members.
Fedusa said in a statement on Wednesday that 2.2 million jobs were lost in the second quarter of 2020, leaving just 14.4 million employed people in both the formal and informal sectors.
The Federation said Government’s stimulus package has also failed to deliver the silver bullet that many had put their hopes on, with inadequate results.
“Employment losses were reported in the business services, transport and mining industries with 7 000, 5 000 and 2 000 jobs respectively,” according to general-secretary Riefdah Ajam.
She said Fedusa, therefore, called for a moratorium on all retrenchments and future potential processes.
Ajam said Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Budget speech in February is not expected to bring about any joy, considering the October 2020 MTBPS outlook, the budget deficit is 15.7% of GDP and gross debt is 81.8% of GDP.
Meanwhile, she said amidst the jobs bloodbath that has categorised the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020, the Fedusa called on the government to show decisiveness in its effectivity and efficiency as a capable state to rollout “uninterrupted, unconstrained and theft-proof measures to roll out the vaccine.”
“Collectively with its social partners, Government must lead the country from crisis to construction and eventual economic conversion, in order to restore the dignity of workers and employers who have been left financially paralysed by the pandemic.”
