Question NW534 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
09 April 2021 - NW534
Schreiber, Dr LA to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)In light of the recent ruling by the Labour Appeal Court that the 2018 wage agreement, namely Resolution 1 of 2018, was deemed unlawful and in contravention of Regulations 78 and 79 of the Public Service Regulations because the State agreed to wage increases despite not having the requisite written commitment or approval from National Treasury, what are the reasons that his department ignored the letter from the Minister of Finance on 14 February 2018, which explicitly indicated that no additional funding can be made available to fund the wage negotiations outcome and advised his department to instead table an alternative offer that would not exceed the existing funding envelope; (2) whether he will furnish Dr L A Schreiber with (a) a list of the full names of (i) all government officials and (ii) Cabinet Ministers who formed part of the Committee of Ministers and/or who participated at any point in the negotiation of the 2018 wage agreement between the State and trade unions, (b) a full list of names of Cabinet Ministers and officials who formally approved and/or signed off on the 2018 agreement on behalf of the State, (c) a copy of the Cabinet Minutes from the Cabinet meeting that approved the draft wage agreement of 26 January 2018 and (d) a copy of the Cabinet Minutes from the Cabinet meeting that approved the final wage agreement of 8 June 2018?
Reply:
The labour unions involved in this matter have made an application for leave to appeal the Labour Appeal Court judgement. The matter is therefore still before the courts. Under the circumstances, it is advised that at this stage the Minister for the Public Service and Administration is unable to respond to the questions posed.
End