Civil servants’ salary hike in this tough economic climate is unwarranted

Even in these tough times, there are not many who would begrudge people that are paid big amounts of money, provided they consistently deliver on the duties of their job.

In short, if people are good at what they do, pay them their worth, especially if it makes our lives simpler.

With this in mind, last month’s announcement that those in public office would be given a 3% salary increase rightfully saw a massive backlash from the public and public sector unions, who threatened strike action if the decision was not reversed, after learning that the increases included MPs, Cabinet members, judges and even President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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What really irks us is that firstly, our public servants are already overpaid for what they do – or should we say what they don’t do?

Secondly, if an increase was based on the merits of strong performances, we doubt many – if any – public servants are actually consistently fulfilling their mandate.

So why on earth should they get an increase against the backdrop of this tough economic climate?

Well, according to Parliament, the MPs are struggling to keep up with rising living costs and, apparently, they’re underpaid compared to their counterparts.

Really? In our lead story today, we put this to the test and track down the salaries of officials in countries with similar economies – not the financial powerhouses, but rather those countries with similar GDPs per capita to ours.

And guess what?

When comparing South African office bearers’ average salaries to these countries, South African public officials earn nearly double – in the case of Macedonia, almost four times as much – as their counterparts in similar sized economies.

READ MORE: SA’s MPs earn more than twice as much as officials in countries with similar economies

Zukiswa Kota, economist and programme head of Rhodes University’s Public Service Accountability Monitor, said: “With rising income and wealth inequality in South Africa – it must be asked whether it is justifiable that those tasked with ensuring democratic change, good governance and public accountability should themselves be contributing to this social injustice.”

The answer would be no.

Our public servants – and those that passed this decision – should hang their heads in shame.