MBOMBELA – Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza’s engagement with the organized labour during the past two days has assisted greatly in clarifying issues which might have contributed to a stand-off between the organized labour and the provincial government.
The executive council explained to COSATU that the 2017 fiscal framework was being implemented against a backdrop of sluggish economic growth and falling revenues. By introducing the moratorium in the employment of new employees in March 2015, the Mpumalanga Provincial Government wanted to curb the growing compensation of employees by setting a targeted ratio between spending on salaries versus the total provincial budget earmarked for service delivery.
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The executive council had resolved that no more than 58 percent of the provincial budget should be spent on compensation of employees, so that at least 42 percent is set aside for service delivery. Currently the province is at 60.8 percent on compensation of employees.
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To ensure quality of service delivery, there has been a need to free up some resources for the front line services especially at schools, clinics and at the hospitals.
The appointments on these critical posts will never be affected. As a result, the moratorium was however never implemented in the department of health but was partially implemented in the department of education.
There has, however, been a continuous picketing and marching by the organized labour on grounds that there was a blanket moratorium in the province believed to have negatively among others affected learning and teaching at the schools, and has subsequently led to the meeting with Mabuza.
Resolutions of the Premier’s engagement with organized labour:
* The meeting has resolved to establish a task team that would work at the conclusions agreed to between the executive council and the organized labour.
* There is no moratorium in the Department of Health. The department has been protected in as far as critical posts are concerned.
* The department was tasked at the meeting to compile the number of available vacant funded posts and their budgets, state how many would be filled in and in which financial year. The information will be presented to the organized labour on Monday, 12 June 2017.
* There is partial moratorium in the Department of Education. The department will continue to prioritize school-based vacant funded positions, at the same time further engage on the process of rationalization for high level management positions.
* The meeting also resolved that all officials who had been on the acting positions should be paid retrospectively.
* The Department of Community Safety Security and Liaison was tasked to conduct a comprehensive security assessment at all health facilities, and make recommendations on what needs to be done to improve the situation, in order to avoid murders, rapes and attacks on staff members at health facilities.
