Sishi said in the absence of certainty over the actual increase for 2023/24, Treasury had taken it out of the framework. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said in a briefing to journalists that it would have to be reinstated if no wage agreement was reached.
Public sector unions have said they will put up a fight if the R1 000 is unilaterally removed. This is because, according to the previous agreement reached in 2021, the gratuity must remain in place until a new agreement is reached. Sishi said that the treatment of the R1 000 cash gratuity made estimating the cost of the wage bill for the first year of the medium-term very difficult. The outer two years were also uncertain as there was a risk that inflation would come in higher than anticipated.
"It is very difficult to estimate inflation right now. We can hold down whatever we need to in budgets, but we will have a problem if inflation comes in higher. This is mostly because of the public sector wage bill, but in general, all government consumption is hard to hold down if there is inflation that is higher than anticipated."In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust.
_Business Uncertainty hangs over the entire country
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