South Africans should make peace with the fact that the country is in trouble, says economist

As United National Transport Union (Untu) members working for Transnet get ready to down their tools for a better salary increase, an economist warned South Africans should make peace with the fact that the country was in trouble.

In the last few months unions such as Cosatu, Numsa and Popcru were among the workers who downed tools and took to the streets to demand higher increases.

Untu media liaison Natasha Gordan said an urgent meeting was called after the union served Transnet with a strike notice earlier this week.

“The engagement started by management once again pleading poverty, re-iterating the reasons for their latter revised salary offer and declaring that they are not able to revise their offer,” she said.

Gordan said Untu expressed its concern that the lawyer’s letter was an attempt to delay the pending strike action planned for today.

Economist Dawie Roodt said there was no better way to put it: the worse was still to come.

“With the Reserve Bank pushing up the interest rate, things will get more difficult because people now have even less money,” he said.

Roodt said to strike about it would not change anything.

“It’s the reality, we are in a place in South Africa where we need to realise, we are in big trouble and adjust our living standards accordingly,” he said.

Global Business Solutions joint CEO John Botha said in many economies, inflation in the first half of 2022. was at its highest since the ’80s.

“The ongoing economic crisis in SA is the basis for the planned socio-economic marches and pickets tomorrow.”

Botha said the dissatisfaction with growing inequality, unemployment and poverty has been manifesting in protest action in the form of marches and pickets.

“The economy has shrunk to the extent that it is still not where it was prior to the Covid pandemic,” Botha said.

Veronica Bouwer, owner of a cleaning company based in Centurion, said she felt sorry for workers who had to strike to get basic increases.

“We have given our staff increases each year with some ranging to 20% increases per hour, as not only the minimum wage increased but also the cost of living.”

Bouwer said her company could not really afford such increases but decided to do so because happy staff ensures a happy company in the long run and avoids losing valuable employees.

Management at the company was not so lucky. “Everything increases, but not our salaries.

The director has not been able to increase my salary for more than two years now,” she said.

Bouwer said not getting an increase affected households financially and as a result, breadwinners had to heavily rely on a second income to cover the basics.

ALSO READ: Recession looms but what about the long-term slump?

– marizkac@citizen.co.za