Government says it remains committed to the implementation of the 2018 wage agreement for public workers, but warns that there are no ‘short cuts’ to the multitude of problems it is currently facing.

In a press statement on Tuesday (31 March), Public Service minister Senzo Mchunu said that there is a number of issues currently facing the country including the outbreak of the coronavirus and the recent downgrading of South Africa’s credit ratings to junk status by Moody’s.

These issues have piled more anguish onto the economy which is already in recession, he said.

“While these developments have brought much more pressure on depleted State resources, the Department of Public Service and Administration continues to look for solutions, including from more engagements between Government and Labour to try and deal with realities confronting us.

“It should be noted though that there are no ‘short cuts’ and options are extremely limited.”

“These matters require dedication, understanding and commitment from all sides. Accordingly, we want to reiterate that government remains committed to the implementation of the 2018 Wage Agreement notwithstanding the aforesaid difficulties, at stake is how to do it, and this matters most,” he said.

Mchunu added that the Department of Public Service and Administration is indeed ‘seized’ with the matter and more importantly, recognize the need to ‘handle everything with utmost sensitivity, respect and integrity’.

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