LETTER: Public service is bloated

Your article, “Stupidity of showing skilled public servants the door” (November 8), refers.

I think all of us must agree that the public service itself is bloated and overpaid. Obviously, there are many exceptions and clearly public servants such as teachers, policemen and nurses are the exception to the above. 

However, what is clear is that there has been a wholesale practice of cadre deployment and there are thousands of public servants who are not “fit for purpose”. 

As a practising labour lawyer, I often, on behalf of my clients, have to undertake a retrenchment exercise. This dismissal for operational requirements (retrenchment) is necessitated due to a whole lot of reasons in different circumstances. When conducting the consultation process for the clients, we often open a window of opportunity for those that would like to go and would like to at the same time benefit from a severance package. Invariably the severance packages are enhanced and offer sometimes double, if not more than, the actual legal minimum for a severance package. The caveat is that the employer has the right to refuse to accept an application for voluntary retrenchment. This refusal can be based on the fact that that individual is needed, and those skills are required. 

It is common practice throughout the economy and throughout the world to try to entice individuals who have become too expensive and possibly slowing down to take a package in exchange for termination of employment. 

As long as the government does the dumping of public servants in a manner that is structured and well thought out, I believe the exercise will be worthwhile.

Michael Bagraim
DA MP and employment & labour spokesperson

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