PUBLIC SERVICE
Working conditions in the public service under scrutiny
A state employee's suicide prompts sharp scrutiny as speculation grows that the government will soon start retrenchments
Working conditions in the public service have recently come under sharp scrutiny after a senior staffer in parliament committed suicide in protest against alleged bullying by an ANC MP. Lennox Garane, who had been a section manager for policy in the international relations and protocol division of parliament, shot himself on September 14. In a suicide note read out during his memorial service, Garane said he killed himself in protest against 20 months of bullying. There is mounting speculation that the government will soon embark on wholesale retrenchments as it moves to prevent its wage bill from spiralling out of control, causing anxiety among its employees. The government is the largest employer in SA and is largely responsible for the creation of a black middle class.
The public-sector wage bill, which in 2018-2019 will amount to R587bn, represents 35% of projected government expenditure of R1.67-trillion. The 2018 budget review noted that, for the state to support higher ...
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