The EFF supports the salary increase demand of public servants
24 March 2015
The Economic Freedom Fighters supports the demand of Public Servants for a salary increase of 10%. We support the 10% salary increase because through its failure to generate adequate revenue, the South African Government has shifted the costs of the national revenue to ordinary workers through increased on fuel levies, personal income tax and now electricity prices.
The EFF's position throughout is that there are many other sources of revenue which the state could focus on rather than shifting the burden to ordinary workers. These include nationalisation and strategic control of key sectors of the economy with the aim of equitable redistribution. When the State is in control of key mineral and natural resources, it will be able to facilitate and lead aggressive local beneficiation and industrialisation programme, which will in turn create more jobs and generate additional revenue because the multibillions of profits made the multinational corporations will be kept in the country.
In the immediate, the state should build adequate capacity to deal with aggressive tax avoidance which characterise almost all multinational corporations existing in South Africa. With proper legislation and capacity to implement and enforce such legislation, the South African State can generate a minimum of R100 billion more into the national revenue, but because they are scared of big businesses, the current government is running away from combatting tax avoidance by big multinational corporations.
Workers constitute the core of the public service, and should be adequately remunerated. The EFF has on more many occasions raised motions without notice and members statements in parliament calling for adequate remuneration of workers in South Africa.
We do so because our elections manifesto amongst other things, says, "The EFF Government will bring back the dignity of public servants by ensuring that there is an increase in the salaries of all public servants by a minimum of 50% in the period 2014 to 2019, particularly teachers, nurses, police, warders and all government employees".
The EFF Manifesto is not a populist commitment, but a genuine commitment responding to the reality that a huge number of public servants are not eligible for free houses, and equally too poor to access bank loans for houses that are wrongly provided by banks. Unless there is proper focus on public servants and adequate remuneration, there will never be an inspired public service which improves the lives of our people.
The EFF will unashamedly support struggles of public servants, from different trade unions, in their demands for salary increases because that is part of the principled struggles of the EFF. Workers should also fight for their rights and never allow to be used as Pawns by a political leadership that is failing to generate adequate revenue for South Africa, despite the country's massive wealth.
Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, March 24 2015
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