Africa-Press – South-Africa. Ahead of a planned national stayaway on Wednesday, government has warned participating public servants that they won’t be paid for the day.
In a statement, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) says that employees who deliver essential services are not allowed to participate at all during working hours.
For other civil servants, the department has advised all government departments to apply the principle of “no work, no pay”.
“Leave will be strictly managed, and no leave will be granted unless under extreme and compelling situations,” the department added.
The stayaway has been organised by the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) and Cosatu, in protest of cost of living pressures and the state of the economy.
Demonstrations will be held in the major cities.
But the impact of the stayaway may be more muted than previous shutdowns, after the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said it would not participate in the strike. This means non-striking workers could still get to work, and the protest may not disrupt public transport.
Saftu demands a R1 trillion intervention package from the government to assist distressed poor and working-class households. This would include the payment of a R1 500 basic income grant to household.
Cosatu, along with Saftu, demands an end to load shedding and the scrapping of plans to “privatise” state-owned entities such as Eskom, Transnet and the South African Post Office.
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