Specifically, in 2018, the Treasury announced a three-year wage agreement for a large group of civil servants that included nurses, state lawyers, and engineers. The agreement stated that top-earning public service workers would get a 6% wage increase, while the lowest earners would receive 7%, effective from April 2018. For the next two years (2019 and 2020), more senior workers (such as middle managers) would receive an annual salary increase in line with inflation, while less senior staff (such as nurses who aren’t in managerial positions) were to get 1% above inflation.
Wages increased by the promised amounts in 2018, and things continued smoothly in 2019. However, in 2020, the final year of the agreement, the government was unable to stick to its promises and failed to raise wages at all, despite inflation being at 3%.In July 2021, government-employed nurses received a 1.5% wage hike, as well as a monthly stipend of between R1 220 and R1 695, depending on their salary level. The stipend represented a roughly 7% increase for community service nurses who earned R210 768 a year in 2020.
Higher-paid nurses such as nursing managers at tertiary hospitals, on the other hand, received a stipend that represented a 1.8% increase, together with the pensionable 1.5% raise, they got a 3.3% wage hike, lower than inflation.In October 2022, the government increased the pensionable wages by 3%, below the rate at which consumer prices had increased (7.6%). The state also extended the stipend, which was initially only planned for 2020/2021, and remained at R1 000 after tax. Porters and cleaners who are employed across government-run offices have had a similar experience as nurses.
Non-occupation specific dispensation (OSD) workers such as porters and cleaners qualify for annual increases to keep up with inflation and bonuses, but they have to work for a set amount of time (at least 12 years) before they can be promoted to the next salary bracket. Salaries at this level range between R107 196 and R126 270 before any tax is paid, and they also get the R1 000 monthly stipend.
NEHAWU WON’T BUDGE ON NEW PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE UNTIL 2022/23 DEAL REACHED.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) has stated that it will not consider the 2023-24 wage agreement with the government, which has been signed by other unions, until a deal is reached on the 2022-23 wages. Several other unions in the public service have already concluded a 7.5% wage increase agreement with the government for the 2023-2024 period after negotiations that began in February. These include the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) and unions affiliated with the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa).
However, Nehawu claims that it is still negotiating last year’s settlement. The country has been rocked by a week-long strike action, which ended after Nehawu and other unions reached an agreement on 14 March with the Department of Public Services and Administration to end the strike and return to the negotiating table over the 2022-23 wages. The agreement stipulated that a “no work, no pay” principle would be applied, but no employee would be disciplined for taking part in the strike.
Apart from Nehawu, unions involved in the 14 March deal included the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU), Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), and South African Policing Union (SAPU). None of these unions have signed the 2023-24 agreement.According to Nehawu’s spokesperson, Lwazi Nkolonzi, the union’s “immediate priority” is to conclude negotiations on the 2022-2023 wages and then address the issue of 2023-2024. Nkolonzi stated that the union cannot move forward without resolving the dispute that led to the strike.
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