This year, early January, the government found itself in an unenviable position when, just before the opening of schools, teachers threatened to strike over bonuses.
Teachers threatened not to return to work for the opening of the first term. The bonuses were staggered last year to ensure the over 400 000 civil service was catered for. Even nurses and doctors had also threatened to strike late last year after the bonuses took long to happen. The strike would have crippled essential services. It would appear each sector of the civil service somehow blackmailed the government by threats of withdrawing services in order to get bonuses. This year could produce forth a worse scenario. The bonuses, we have heard, will be staggered over a period of three months beginning December running up to February 2016.
Now, although the government has remained committed to availing the bonuses, it does not call for a rocket scientist to realise that the government will have to award the bonuses at the expense of something critical. That the government, in the first place, would struggle to give bonuses to the civil service at once tells a clear story: the money isn’t there. Talk of squeezing water out of a stone. It is always fatal when political expediency and populism override logical reasoning.
We are all aware of the economic paralysis reflected in the cash crunch, company closures, among other maladies gripping this beautiful nation. It is even more telling that most private organisations, leaner as they have become after the job carnage, have failed to award bonuses to their workers yet, ironically, the overburdened government opted to pay bonuses. Companies that posted profits realise the impracticableness of availing bonuses, while the underperforming government is opting to choke itself by going for the deadly kill. The populist stance is self-defeating. It is suicidal and poses a real risk to the timeous payment of civil service salaries for the rest of 2016. As things stand, pensioners spent the rest of last week queuing for November pension funds which are yet to come through. Pensioners, some who travelled from rural areas in the hope of getting their money find themselves stranded in the cities with nothing coming to fruition.
Already we are midway into December and the first batch of bonus has to be released. The government is evidently placing itself in an awful hole instead of being realistic. The anger resulting from being made to understand the truth, in my view, is milder than the anger resulting from being lied to. Can the government lift this gargantuan load or it is setting itself up for bitter condemnation? It is even more insightful that the December civil service pay day has been pegged at an unearthly December 29. This translates to a festive season devoid of the merriment that should characterise the time because of empty pockets. It points to the self-evident truth that things are not well economically.
I mean no harm to civil servants, but in all honesty, if the truth be told, insistence on paying bonuses will come at a huge cost. The financially-hamstrung government could have handled the situation better, rather than throwing itself in the deep end. Money has to come from somewhere. Milking the little amount there is from government coffers is likely to have serious repercussions in 2016. A domino effect, a vicious cycle of delayed salaries could result throughout the year. It is an open secret that the government is making an attempt on a herculean task.
While the remainder of civil servants eagerly wait for bonuses, it should be emphasised that the government is creating an almost impossible situation for Treasury. There would be no breather for Treasury up to the first six months of 2016 because of this move. The government is evidently setting itself for tough times. Things are bad enough as they stand. In fact, the government risks a wave of strikes by civil servants in the year 2016. The miscalculation is being made now. Where else should a struggling Treasury get money from when it has to be pumping out extra monies the equivalent of salaries throughout the next three months?
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What, in my opinion, was necessary was brutal honesty, unlike creating a potentially explosive situation. Why should the government force itself in an impossible direction against all reason instead of being truthful? It’s not a lie, the economy is in the doldrums. Of course, while it would not go down well with the civil service, I presume very few would begrudge the government for being bold. In essence, it would prove a commitment to principle. It would prove real concern for the civil service. Such a decision, to those who are judicious, is actually in the best interest of the civil service. It guarantees the timely payment of salaries in the future.
The insistence on paying bonuses will definitely have an adverse impact. There is no one alien to the rugged economic terrain the country has travelled throughout 2015.
lLearnmore Zuze is a legal researcher, author and media analyst. He writes here in his own capacity. E-mail:[email protected]
