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Pretoria - The government needs to review public servants' conditions of employment, particularly their housing allowance and medical aid contributions, the Public Servants Association of SA said on Tuesday.
"Giving proper attention to not only wages, but to improving essential conditions of employment, will meet the government's dual objectives of building the developmental state and improving the conditions of service for public service workers," deputy manager Manie de Clercq said in a statement.
Public servants who made up a large portion of middle- and low-income groups in South Africa were facing the "devastating" effects of inflation on their income.
"They are also being pulled down by restricted medical insurance and a lacking housing allowance."
Although government sources indicated a lower projected inflation rate, it was general knowledge that different households experience different rates of inflation, he said.
De Clercq likened inflation to a tax on middle- and low-income groups.
Unlike the wealthy who had wide-ranging sources of income, the working class income in the form of wages was always eroded by inflation.
"The first to suffer in public servants' households are decent housing and sufficient medical insurance. They have not received a decent housing allowance from their employer since the early 1980s and are forced to resort to informal housing."
The medical inflation rate had significantly increased over the past couple of years, but the state as employer seemed to support only the Government Employees Medical Scheme (Gems).
"Gems, as established by government, excludes fair competition with private sector medical aids."
- Sapa
