Trade union federation, Saftu, has lashed out at government following reports that government plans to cut 30 000 jobs over the next three years.
The SA Federation of Trade Unions said that the report in the Mail and Guardian on Friday was based on based on statements by “government insiders who attended this week’s Cabinet lekgotla”.
According to the report Treasury has set aside R4-billion for this financial year to kickstart the process of issuing severance packages to 30 000 staff in order to reduce the government’s salary bill by R20-billion.
Saftu’s Zwelinzima Vavi said “this outrageous slaughter of jobs is a project of the ANC Government, not a Zuma or Ramaphosa project, which has been taken in order to comply with the instructions of the ratings agencies, the IMF and the World Bank, who hold a view that our public service is bloated.
But, the spokesperson for the Department of Public Service and Administration Mava Scott said there were no such plans.
However, he did acknowledge that as part of cost-cutting measures, severance packages and early retirement options will be presented to public sector trade union in the Public Service Bargaining Council.
In a television interview, Scott said “there is no retrenchment”, but rather a process of “persuasion” for people to exit the public service.
“At the end of the day we will be looking at an outcome that will see a government that is better able to effectively deliver services to our people,” Scott said.
Cosatu’s Sizwe Pamla said they will fight any job cuts in the public service.
