THETO MAHLAKOANA: Public servants claim to be victims of corruption, but seem unwilling to act on information
Public servants have it really good. Despite the fact that they tend to earn better than most taxpayers in SA, they are the very employees who turned a blind eye to the looting of state coffers, only to later claim also to be victims of corruption. The key argument advanced by the four public sector unions that have rejected the government’s final wage offer is that their members are being forced to carry the burden for wasteful expenditure, corruption and fraud in the state. The offer of 6% and 7% for 2018-19 and the projected consumer price index plus 1% for 2020-21 was not enough. Nor were improved medical scheme benefits for some of the lowest-paid workers, among a list of other wage adjustments. This, the unions explained, was because the government had allowed even more money than the demands they put on the table to be funnelled away through criminal means. They would rather have a 7.5%-6.5% increase for 2018-19, among other demands.That is not to say the unions that have acc...
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