SAMANTHA ENSLIN-PAYNE: Public sector pay, tax and virtuous or vicious circles
Government staff want more pay for the troubles they face at work
The sabre-rattling by public service unions over wage talks comes as the government, after almost a decade of corruption, is trying to fix the mess we are in, including at state-owned enterprises, which should facilitate growth, not put it at risk. It's understandable that government employees want more pay, given the troubles they go through each day at work. They are at the frontline of delivering government services, such as teaching classes of 40 children or more with few resources in dilapidated schools, putting their lives at risk while trying to curb crime or having to deal with ill citizens without the means to provide consistently good care. While the government says public servants are generally better paid than most taxpayers, with an expanded unemployment rate of 36.3% it is likely that state staff - like most employed South Africans - support at least one unemployed family member. But it's not that simple. It never is. The rate of increase in the public sector wage bill...
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