Legal Aid South Africa has suspended remote working arrangements, cancelled leave and ordered non-striking employees back to offices as it prepares for potential disruption from industrial action by members of the South African Legal Workers Union (SALAWU). Image: Nomonde Zondi
Legal Aid South Africa has suspended remote working arrangements, cancelled leave and ordered non-striking employees back to offices as it prepares for potential disruption from industrial action by members of the South African Legal Workers Union (SALAWU).
Documents in IOL’s possession show the organisation has activated a wide-ranging contingency plan that includes additional attendance monitoring, the suspension of flexible work arrangements and the revocation of some previously approved leave.
The measures come as SALAWU has said there will be protected strike action, which will take place on 17 and 18 June. The strike follows months of failed attempts to resolve disputes through the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
While the union has publicly described the action as a two-day strike, an internal contingency circular signed by chief executive officer Mantiti Kola states that industrial action will commence on 17 June and “will proceed indefinitely”.
Legal Aid South Africa provides legal representation and legal services to people who cannot afford private legal assistance, including in criminal, civil and land matters.
Disruptive action
The circular further warns that the strike “has the potential to disrupt Legal Aid SA’s delivery of services to clients and other stakeholders”.
The industrial action stems from a dispute over Legal Aid South Africa’s retirement policy. SALAWU has argued that employees are being forced to retire at 60 instead of 65 and has broadened its grievances to include staffing levels, workloads, salary benchmarking, employee benefits and morale.
Legal Aid South Africa, however, sought to reassure clients and stakeholders that services would continue. In a statement issued ahead of the strike, the organisation said it had activated business continuity measures.
“While Legal Aid SA anticipates that some employees may participate in the industrial action, the organisation has activated appropriate business continuity and service continuity measures to minimise disruption to services. These measures are intended to ensure that clients continue to receive legal assistance and representation,” it said.
IOL has a copy of a Legal Aid document indicating that strike action could go on indefinitely. Image: Legal Aid internal document
Respecting the constitution
Legal Aid South Africa added that it respected “the constitutional rights of employees to participate in this lawful and protected industrial action” while remaining committed to safeguarding access to justice for vulnerable and indigent people.
The organisation also officially acknowledged that SALAWU had “raised concerns relating to the retirement age provision contained in the organisation’s Terms and Conditions of Employment Policy”.
However, the contingency plan reveals the extent of preparations underway behind the scenes. Under the plan, employees who decide not to participate in the strike needed to have signed a non-participation register by 10am on 15 June.
“Any employee who fails to complete the non-participation register within the prescribed period will be considered to be participating in the industrial action,” the staff circular said.
In addition to the organisation’s existing biometric attendance system, non-striking employees will also be required to sign a manual attendance register three times a day. The circular states that employees must sign the register before or at 08:00, between 13:00 and 14:00 and again at or after 16:00.
You can’t be flexible
Flexible working arrangements have also been suspended.
“To ensure better co-ordination of the available resources in every office, the Flexible Work Arrangement Policy is suspended, effective Monday, 15 June 2026, until further notice,” the circular states.
Employees currently working from home due to office space constraints have been instructed to report to local, satellite or court-based offices. “The Head of Office/Provincial Executive should determine the office where the employee will report,” the contingency plan stated.
“In anticipation of staff resources being limited, no employee shall be allowed to take annual leave for the duration of the strike, unless exceptional circumstances exist that warrant the taking of annual leave,” the circular states.
Previously approved leave falling within the strike period has also been revoked unless alternative arrangements are approved by management.
Employees participating in the industrial action have further been instructed to return all files to their “line managers or delegated officials”.
Andries Nel, deputy minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, during a Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development 6 May 2026 meeting discussing Legal Aid. Image: YouTube screenshot
Staffing concerns
The contingency measures come against a backdrop of broader concerns about staffing and capacity within the organisation.
During a meeting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development last month, Legal Aid South Africa warned lawmakers that budget constraints were affecting its ability to fill vacancies and maintain staffing levels.
The issue has featured prominently in SALAWU’s criticism of the organisation.
The union has argued that frozen vacancies have resulted in excessive workloads and chronic understaffing, while pointing out that other institutions within the justice cluster continue to fill positions.
It has also criticised delays in salary benchmarking, reductions in performance incentives and what it describes as a deterioration in employee benefits and morale.
Making staff poorer?
The retirement-age dispute remains at the centre of the industrial action.
According to SALAWU, employees expected the retirement age to revert to 65 and have argued that retirement at 60 places employees at a financial disadvantage by reducing future earnings and affecting retirement and medical benefits.
Five employees retired in January 2026, while a further 25 employees are expected to retire before the end of the current financial year.
Legal Aid has said the retirement age of 60 was formally approved by the board in 2018 and later approved by both the ministers of justice and finance in 2020, following consultation processes with employees.
Legal Aid’s website says it is a “top employer” for this year. Image: Legal Aid SA website
Constructive
Legal Aid South Africa said it would continue engaging with the union through established labour relations channels.
“The entity will carefully consider all matters formally presented in the memorandum and will engage constructively with the Union through the appropriate labour relations mechanisms,” it said.
The organisation added that its objective was “not simply to respond to disputes as they arise, but to continue building an environment where issues can be addressed constructively and in the best interests of both employees and the organisation”.
Legal Aid was offered an opportunity to comment on the additional information in IOL’s possession but had not done so by the time of writing.
Outgoing agriculture minister John Steenhuisen Image: GCIS
Two months into the job, and Geordin Hill-Lewis is already wielding the axe.
It is understood the new DA leader has decided to strip John Steenhuisen of the agriculture portfolio, offering him a far smaller consolation prize, deputy minister of trade, industry and competition.
According to an insider, Hill-Lewis has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting a set of changes to the DA’s ministers and deputy ministers in cabinet.
The party’s federal council is being briefed on the changes on Wednesday morning.
“We will have a meeting about it this morning,” the source said.
“It should be made official after that.”
The DA is the second-biggest party in SA’s coalition government (the GNU) under Ramaphosa, and holds six ministries and six deputy ministries.
Steenhuisen led the DA for years and was central to negotiating its place in the coalition, but stepped down as party leader in April.
That followed mounting internal pressure, much of it tied to his handling of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis hitting the livestock sector.
Hill-Lewis, Cape Town mayor, took over from him.
What Hill-Lewis is said to be asking for:
Replace John Steenhuisen as agriculture minister with Willie Aucamp, currently minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment;
Move Steenhuisen into the smaller role of deputy minister of trade, industry and competition;
Move David Maynier, currently Western Cape education MEC, into Aucamp’s old post;
Shift Alexandra Abrahams from deputy trade minister to deputy minister of energy and electricity, replacing Samantha Graham-Maré, who would leave the executive entirely;
Bring Jack Bloom, the DA’s Gauteng health spokesperson, into government as deputy minister of water and sanitation, replacing Isaac Seitlholo; and
Remove Mimmy Gondwe as deputy minister of higher education and replace her with Yusuf Cassim, currently the DA’s Eastern Cape provincial chairperson.
Aucamp has reportedly already been told that, if confirmed, his first jobs would be to settle pending court cases over FMD vaccine policy and to start talks with farming groups about the outbreak.
Hill-Lewis had given Steenhuisen roughly two months after the April leadership change to show progress on agriculture before deciding whether to act.
South Africa’s biggest retailer and largest private employer, Shoprite, has blown past its targeted store openings for the year, rolling out 268 new stores in a massive R3.9 billion expansion.
The group surpassed its target of opening 223 new stores in FY 2026, having achieved higher than the target in just 11 months.
The group said the store openings are part of its strategy to grow its omnichannel retail platform, built on a significant corporate-owned store base, for future growth.
The bulk of the openings were in its core segment, which contributes the lion’s share of group sales. However, its ‘adjacent’ businesses also saw rapid growth.
The retailer opened:
48 Usave stores
41 Shoprite supermarkets
30 Checkers supermarkets
92 LiquorShops
38 Petshop Science stores
13 UNIQ clothing stores
6 others
Notably, the adjacent businesses are growing far ahead of target, with Petshop Science exceeding its planned rollout by 65%, while UNIQ clothing more than doubled its rollout plan.
Petshop Science was launched in April 2021, making Shoprite the first South African supermarket group to enter the specialist pet retail market.
In just over three years, the concept has expanded rapidly in response to growth in the local pet economy.
Uniq was launched as a standalone clothing brand in March 2023, with its first store opening at Canal Walk in Cape Town.
The brand focuses on premium everyday clothing for the family and has since rolled out across most major shopping malls in South Africa.
Other brands that have launched in Shoprite’s ‘adjacent business’ segment include Checkers Outdoor and the new LittleMe baby-focused retail concept, which launched in 2021.
The rollouts have also cemented Shoprite’s position as South Africa’s biggest private employer. The group currently employs over 170,000 people, with the new expansions adding to the figure.
Thousands of new jobs were created throughout South Africa as the group expanded its footprint across all nine provinces, it said.
Gauteng led the growth with 82 stores opening, followed by the Western Cape (48) and KwaZulu-Natal (31), which together accounted for nearly 60% of all openings during the period.
“The group’s expansion strategy is supported by significant capital investment, with R3.9 billion spent during the first half of its 2026 financial year – much of it directed towards growing and upgrading the retailer’s core South African store network,” the group said.
Shoprite opening while competitors closing
Shoprite’s rapid expansion stands in stark contrast to its main competitors in the retail space, namely SPAR Group and Pick n Pay, which have been scaling down their operations in many respects.
Pick n Pay has been running a major store reset programme over the past two years, which saw the group close non-performing stores and convert many others to other brands in the stable, like Boxer.
The group noted in May 2026 that this programme is now largely complete, but it still saw the retailer shut down 56 stores across South Africa during its 2026 financial year.
The company closed 39 company-owned stores during the financial year, although this was partly offset by 33 converted openings.
Pick n Pay Clothing continued to expand despite the broader restructuring, with store numbers increasing from 396 in March 2025 to 419 by March 2026.
The biggest reduction came in the franchised business. Pick n Pay’s franchised supermarket footprint declined sharply from 260 stores in 2025 to 211 in 2026.
The retailer also significantly reduced its franchised liquor network, closing 29 liquor stores during the year under review.
Overall, company-owned stores increased from 971 to 992 over the period, but franchised stores declined from 697 to 620. This resulted in a net closure of 56 stores nationwide.
SPAR, meanwhile, has also been in recovery mode, pulling out of international markets to rather focus on its operations back home in South Africa.
In its interim results for the six months ended 27 March 2026, published this week, the group said that it faced significant pressure.
This included three main challenges: underperformance in KwaZulu-Natal, an ineffective Black Friday campaign that failed to deliver a return on investment, and residual balance sheet clean-ups.
In terms of its store footprint, the group reported a mix of local sales and disposals, flagging impairments from underperforming operations.
However, its overall store base saw a significant reduction due to the disposal of its international operations, particularly in the UK.
Cartrack, the vehicle tracking company founded by billionaire Zak Calisto that forms the core of his Nasdaq-listed Karooooo group, is facing significant reputational and regulatory pressure following the death of a 29-year-old employee at its Rosebank head office on June 6, 2026.
Gcina Dhladhla, a call centre employee, arrived at the Rosebank offices at approximately 08:00 on Saturday morning. At around 09:00, she told her manager she felt dizzy and nauseous. The manager accompanied her to the bathroom. She entered a cubicle and locked the door. When the manager returned and received no response, facilities staff were called to open the door. Trained first responders were simultaneously activated. Emergency medical services were called. Dhladhla died at the scene.
The circumstances of her death prompted immediate interventions from trade unions, the ANC Youth League and the Economic Freedom Fighters, all of whom alleged that Dhladhla had been pressured to attend work despite being unwell.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions issued a formal statement calling on the Department of Employment and Labour to urgently investigate the incident, including Cartrack’s sick leave policies, disciplinary practices, workplace health and safety procedures and emergency response mechanisms. “These allegations raise serious concerns regarding workplace health and safety, the treatment of sick employees, and the duty of care,” COSATU said.
The ANCYL’s regional spokesperson, Oscar Kanyane, accused Cartrack of being synonymous with the mistreatment of young Black employees. The organisation laid a formal criminal complaint against the company at the Rosebank Police Station, accusing Cartrack of exploiting young workers. The Economic Freedom Fighters’ labour desk also launched a fact-finding intervention at the Rosebank premises.
Former employees subsequently came forward to allege systemic workplace pressures within Cartrack’s call centre operations, adding to the intensity of public scrutiny directed at the company.
Cartrack issued a statement defending its conduct. The company said Dhladhla’s medical emergency was sudden and unexpected, that she had arrived at work with no indication she was unwell and that once the seriousness of the situation became apparent, trained on-site first responders with an Automated External Defibrillator responded immediately while emergency medical services were called.
On the sick leave allegations, the company was direct. “Sick leave has never been denied,” it stated. It confirmed that Dhladhla had taken sick leave on June 1, 2026, provided a sick note issued by a dentist upon her return, and that the note was accepted. The company also confirmed that during the week, she had raised sensitive, private and personal challenges affecting her outside of the workplace, and that her manager handled those matters with sensitivity and confidentiality. A case has been opened with the South African Police Service and the matter is under investigation.
The most significant development came on Thursday, June 11, when Cartrack and the Dhladhla family released a joint statement following a meeting between the family’s representatives and Cartrack management. The statement described the meeting as emotional and constructive, with questions asked, information shared and an agreement reached to support the ongoing independent investigations.
“We’d like to thank Cartrack management for their cooperation, allowing an organic first discussion that was open and transparent,” said family representative Thamsanqa Mbuli. “Our intended objective of clarifying the sequence of events leading up to our beloved daughter, sister and colleague passing was achieved.”
Gcina’s sister Lindiwe Dhladhla said: “What happened today has given me peace.”
Cartrack South Africa CEO Joshua Victor said: “We remain deeply committed to supporting the family, cooperating fully with law enforcement and the Department of Labour, and ensuring that every fact is uncovered and established through the appropriate processes.”
The family extended an invitation to Dhladhla’s managers and co-workers to attend her funeral. “We want Cartrack to feel welcome to attend the funeral and to show their support,” said her aunt Phumzile Dhladhla.
The joint statement explicitly cautioned against prejudging the outcome of investigations. “We have not established all material facts surrounding our loss and would like support from you in allowing the processes of investigation to unfold without preempting the outcome,” family representative Mbuli said.
Cartrack is the flagship operating subsidiary of Karooooo, which Calisto founded in 2001 starting with R100 and a partnership with Vodacom to deploy tracking devices without upfront infrastructure costs. The company listed on the JSE in 2014, rebranded and listed on the Nasdaq in 2021, and is now headquartered in Singapore with 2.3 million subscribers across 24 countries. For the half year ended August 31, 2025, Karooooo reported revenue of $139 million, up 20 percent, and profits of $27.6 million, up 17.2 percent. Calisto holds approximately 58 percent of Karooooo shares, a stake valued at more than $1 billion when the company was valued at $1.74 billion in October 2025, making him South Africa’s eighth confirmed dollar billionaire.
The investigation into Dhladhla’s death is ongoing. South Africa’s Department of Employment and Labour has been asked by COSATU to make it urgent.
Raphael Kaplinsky, Emeritus Professor, Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex)
Mike Morris (Emeritus Professor, PRISM – School of Economics, University of Cape Town
David spent most of his professional career as an economist, primarily basing himself at the University of Cape Town, with sabbaticals at the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, the Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. After graduating from the IDS, he spent two years as a teaching assistant in the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts. After moving residence to Paris in 2015, he maintained his association with the Economics Department at UCT.
Throughout his professional career Dave maintained an abiding interest in innovation, in the roles played by states and markets in economic growth and in the distributional outcomes of growth. He addressed these issues through a multidisciplinary lens, combining insights from economic history, economic theory, political economy and innovation studies. But most of all, he was an “engaged academic”, making a significant contribution to the development and implementation of policy in relation to industrial development, international trade, labour markets, science and technology and innovation, primarily but not exclusively in South Africa.
Completing his BA/BCom degree at the University of Cape Town in 1970, Dave graduated with an MA from the University of Kent in 1972 and a D Phil at the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex in 1978. He was immensely proud of his role as a research assistant to Professors Hans Singer and Scarlett Epstein during his graduate studies at the IDS. He returned to South Africa in 1980 and was employed in the Faculty of Economic History at UCT, becoming the Head in 1989.
In 1990 he moved to the Economics Department with a joint professorial position in the Graduate School of Business. Dave remained an active member of the Economics department at UCT until his passing. He regarded this as his academic home. Dave was a devoted and rigorous teacher. His lectures were eagerly attended by students at UCT, and he was a dedicated and rigorous supervisor of many postgraduate dissertations. The role played by states and markets was a central thread during Dave’s professional career. His voluminous D Phil dissertation Class Conflict, Capital Accumulation and the State in 20th Century South Africa, focused primarily on the positive role played by the state in the development of South Africa’s considerable industrial development.
But as the Apartheid state became increasingly predatory and obstructionist to economic growth, Dave shifted to a more critical analysis of the state. His growing interest in innovation from the mid-1980s, evidenced in his book The Crossed Lines (which focused on South Africa’s telecoms sector) led him to argue that the key to productivity led growth lay in a dynamic private sector, working together with state, business services, educational and research institutions in an efficient National System of Innovation (NSI).
His many publications analysed the way in which the considerable strengths of South Africa’s NSI were disabled in the post-Transition era by a predatory and often incompetent state. His underlying hope was that, in time, the South African state would provide the framing environment for a productivity enhancing private sector.
Notwithstanding this focus on innovation and productivity, Dave recognised the crucial role which employment played in the distribution of the fruits of growth. Perhaps surprisingly given his secondment as the Chief Economist at the Department of Trade and Industry (2000 – 03), and later (2004 – 10) as part time Chief Economist to the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), his independence of thought led him to argue that South Africa’s employment challenge could not be met only through industrial development. It also necessarily required substantial public-private sector collaboration.
Dave increasingly felt that his professional contribution to economic development lay less in producing academic publications and more in the design and execution of policy. He came to argue that top down state directed economic policy was at best ineffective and at worst damaging; the primary driver of growth was the private sector working in a collaborative partnership with government and institutions in the NSI; the role of the state and public policy was to provide the framing conditions which enabled growth; and this depended on having suitably capacitated, independent institutions comprised of private and public representatives to enable effective implementation.
This required efficient markets, appropriate human resources, independent institutions, and incentives to promote investment in productivity enhancing technological progress. This focus on the institutional determinants of growth arose from Dave’s extensive experience in working with stakeholders across society. He was a member of the Economic Trends group established in early 1987 to advise COSATU on development policy. In 1990, he co-founded the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) at UCT which addressed a range of economic policy agendas, particularly with regard to the labour market and policies to strengthen science and technology capabilities and to enhance innovation and productivity.
In the early 1990s, Dave co-directed the Industrial Strategy Project (the ISP). Working in concert with COSATU, this large multi-year programme produced a policy blueprint designed to deliver a more dynamic and inclusive post-Apartheid industrial sector (Improving Manufacturing Performance in South Africa). Perhaps more significantly, the ISP provided the training for a number of young academics and policy practitioners who subsequently came to play an important role in post-Transformation South Africa.
Soon after the ISP project was completed, Dave participated as a prominent member of the Presidential Labour Market Commission, established in 1995 with the objective of developing the human resources and policies required to promote a more employment intensive growth path. After his stint at the DTI, frustrated by policy failures at the national level, Dave then turned his attention to policy design and implementation at the regional level. In his role as Chief Economist within the Western Cape’s DEDAT he was tasked with developing industrial policy for the Western Cape government primarily through developing and implementing a provincial industrial strategy.
This resulted in the Western Cape Micro Economic Development Strategy (MEDS), which involved substantial engagement with a multiplicity of private sector actors, and the establishment of relatively effective independent public/private institutions across a variety of sectors.
In 2006 Dave assisted in founding the Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing (PRISM) unit within the School of Economics which was committed to using academic research to engage with governments and industry on various policy frontiers across Africa. Dave remained an active member of PRISM until 2025. Dave had a long-term interest in science, technology and innovation, sparked by his book on telecoms which was published in 1990. During the mid-1990s he coordinated the Task Team producing the Green Paper on Science and Technology for the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology. He was also a senior Advisor in the writing of the Green Paper on Telecommunications Policy. Over the past decade, he played an active and senior role in the National Council on Innovation (NACI) and was a founding Board Member of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and devoted considerable energy in steering it through choppy waters.
In the immediate period before his death, Dave became increasingly involved in the development of policies facilitating the growth of venture capital backed innovative enterprises. Whilst in Paris he extended this focus on science and technology beyond South Africa, working as a consultant and advisor to the International Science Council. On the international stage he played an important role as a member of the Scientific Committee and a mentor in the global consortium of researchers (GLOBELICS), and particularly in its African sub-division (AFRICALICS).
The working class in South Africa is under siege from soaring living costs and rising unemployment, prompting Cosatu to organise a national protest on 19 June. This protest aims to urge the government and private sector to take immediate action to alleviate the burden on workers. Image: Ayanda Ndamane/ Independent Newspapers
The working class is under siege from the increasingly painful costs of living, rising unemployment and the subsequent crises of poverty, inequality, crime, corruption and overstretched public services.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) will be holding a national protest against the rising costs of living on Friday 19 June to send a clear message to government and the private sector that workers can no longer cope and action must be taken before it is too late.
South Africa’s history of centuries of institutional discrimination and disempowerment under colonial and apartheid rule are well known and the scars of poverty and inequality they engineered remain painfully etched across the nation.
We appreciate that great strides have been made on many fronts since 1994 under government led by the African National Congress, from investing 60% of the Budget into uplifting working-class communities to opening up the economy to the 90% once denied access to their race, gender or disability.
We must, however, be alarmed by the plight facing millions of working-class and increasingly middle-class families with most drowning in debt and borrowing simply to pay for essentials or other debt. Workers support an average of 7 relatives.
With the doubling of fuel prices over the past few months and workers spending an average of 40% of their wages on transport, we fear we are approaching breaking point.
Just as we collectively rallied as a nation to successfully defeat Covid-19, so too must government and business work with labour and society, to tackle our rising costs of living and the dire socio-economic crises underpinning them.
Government has done well to provide some relief for the massive fuel price hikes that have hammered commuters and the economy.
Whilst appreciating the price tag of this relief, it should be extended until fuel prices return to pre-war levels.
Similarly, the long-awaited review committed to by government since 2018 on the fuel levy and taxes that consume a third of the fuel price is needed and engagements at Nedlac on how they can be reduced, resume.
This necessitates placing the Road Accident Fund under competent management and upon a path to financial sustainability; e.g., the pilferage of its overstretched resources by lawyers must end, and the necessary legislative amendments to ensure its resources are targeted at the poor must be expedited.
The substantial investments by government in Metro Rail and efforts to return it to full capacity need to be accelerated alongside greater investments in public transport from our trains to buses and taxis.
This will provide commuters cheaper and faster means of transport to get to work, boost workplace productivity, and reduce road congestion and wear and tear.
The Reserve Bank needs to reduce its over-enthusiasm for increasing the repo rate at the sight of the slightest inflationary pressures. Yes, we must keep inflation low to protect workers’ wages, but we must also avoid excessive rate hikes that bleed workers’ meagre wages and suffocate economic growth.
The private banks need to reduce their shamefully high lending rates they charge low-income workers.
Eskom has done well to defeat the crisis of loadshedding that once crippled the economy.
It now needs our collective support to end its dangerous dependency upon above inflation electricity tariff hikes.
This requires a decisive plan to tackle the R120 billion municipal debt owed to Eskom, increasing at an alarming rate of R20 billion annually.
All consumers, be it government, businesses or households, must be moved to prepaid electricity. That is the only way to ensure that all electricity consumed is paid for. Those involved in illegal connections must be prosecuted.
Eskom must be enabled to expand its renewable and nuclear energy generation capacity to reduce its operating costs.
Treasury and COGTA must ramp up efforts to capacitate local government to deliver basic services, particularly to working class communities and tackle their massive financial leakages and above inflation municipal tariff hikes.
Cosatu successfully led an effective campaign to reduce GEMS massive premium hike this year. Similar campaigns and premium cuts are needed for other medical aids who exploit members’ vulnerabilities.
Endless court challenges to the National Health Insurance’s rolling out must end and a plan to ensure universal access to healthcare put in place.
Strategic support should be provided for agriculture sector to shield food from inflationary pressures, from ensuring Transnet is returned to full capacity to reducing the price of diesel and providing greater support for emerging farmers.
If inflation continues to rise, then adjustments must be made for social grant recipients, and in particular the 8 million SRD Grants beneficiaries that have only once received an inflationary adjustment since it started in 2020.
Food parcels should be provided for Old Age Grant recipients and other indigent households.
The income threshold for NSFAS recipients has never been increased for inflation since its introduction 8 years ago. It too must be adjusted.
The Two Pot Pension Reforms have injected an invaluable R70 billion into the pockets of 4 million highly indebted workers whilst boosting long term savings for retirement. The next phase of these progressive reforms must be accelerated.
The South African Revenue Service must be allocated greater resources to raise the tax compliance rate from 68% to 75% by 2029. This will ensure the state has the resources needed to fund public services whilst reducing the increasingly suffocating tax burden upon working and middle-class families.
The private sector must play its part by paying a living wage, wage increases to protect workers from inflation and reducing its shameful wage gaps, in particular in the financial, mining, construction and retail sectors.
Government and the private sector must act to end retrenchments, plus revamp and expand public employment programmes to provide millions of unemployed a path to employment.
What we cannot afford to do is to normalise the abnormal. Workers are drowning. A bold and decisive Marshall Plan to rebuild public services, stimulate economic growth, create decent jobs and tackle the unaffordable costs of living is long overdue.
Solly Phetoe is the General Secretary of Cosatu.
Solly Phetoe is the general secretary of Cosatu. Image: Doctor Ngcobo / Independent Newspapers.
