The PSBC is made up of representatives from the government and the public service trade unions. Each party agreed to elect eight members each to the council and alternate negotiators. Since the establishment of the PSBC, the employer has never shown any respect to the body or unions.
The government has been disingenuous on many occasions as demonstrated by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Kenneth Matambo, during his delivery of the Budget Speech last week. During his presentation, Matambo rightly announced that the government is not in a position to make an announcement on public service salaries.However, the minister hypocritically proclaimed that they encourage the PSBC to proceed “expeditiously with negotiations, taking into account the budgetary constraints imposed by uncertainties in the economic outlook of both the global and domestic economies as stated earlier in this speech”. Matambo intentionally painted black all the members of the bargaining council in that they are a neglectful lot who do not know their duties. He failed to mention that for the past three years since the establishment of the council, the government representatives have requested postponement after postponement when they were supposed to conclude the 2013-2014 salary negotiations. Most of the time, meetings were postponed after the government representatives did not turn up for appointments without explanation. These are well-documented facts. Instead of urging the PSBC to proceed expeditiously with negotiations, Matambo missed a golden opportunity to reprimand the government representatives for their wayward behaviour. This attitude we have noted, is ingrained in senior government officials. On Monday when the council was busy negotiating salaries, the head of the Directorate of Public Service Management, Carter Morupisi went to address public servants somewhere in Letlhakeng. In sheer display of his Big Brother mentality, he told the meeting that there will be a salary increment for civil servants but it will not be backdated. Morupisi apparently told his subordinates that because of the economic situation, there is nothing the government could offer for the year 2013-2014. The likes of Matambo and Morupisi should be disabused of this Big Brother mentality and arrogance. They must learn to respect due process. We are alive to the fact that this is an election year and there will be a lot of political gimmickry. But due process should not be sacrificed for the sake of political expediency.
