Cosatu warns that early retirement plan could backfire on government

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has warned that the government’s plan to offer voluntary early retirement to reduce the public sector wage bill might backfire.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced during the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement that they were targeting 30 000 public servants in the plan which would be implemented over two years.

MTBPS | Labour reacts to early retirement offer plan:

The union says the country’s population has almost doubled since 1994, but the public sector headcount has only increased by 20%.

The labour federation’s Parliamentary Co-ordinator Matthew Parks says critically skilled people might be lost and the government could be forced to get them back.

“We are taking a shortcut route, we fear it is simply because it is going to end in tears. It is not going to address the issues you need to address, the fundamental issues of growing the economy fixing the state reducing poverty and unemployment. We are not looking for shortcut measures.”