South Africa's unions, government agree 7.5% wage hike

The majority of South Africa's public sector unions on Friday agreed to a 7.5% wage increase after five months of strike action, the government said in a statement.

The two-year, multi-term deal is significantly higher than what the government had factored into its 2023 budget and will put efforts to manage runaway public spending at risk, experts warned earlier.

The unions in the public sector represent approximately 1.3 million workers and had been taking part in varying degrees of demonstration since November 2022.

Salary negotiations began in May, with unions initially demanding a 10% increase which the government rejected.

By Reuters.

Full story at IOL.