This is according to a government employee stationed in the Free State. The essential worker, who would like to remain anonymous, was speaking ahead of Wednesday’s national strike which was organised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). 

She stated that essential workers have sacrificed their time, families, and themselves to serve the country only not to receive salary increases as promised by the government. She says the government has signed an agreement stating that they will be receiving an increment but is not following through as there is no money to make salary increases possible.

“This is the one strike in my life that I am really feeling the pain and the ache. I feel that our government does not appreciate essential workers. We were so essential during the crises… [the Covid-19 pandemic] - we were working on weekends, going to farms screening people… We did not even have enough PPE but for the sake of our nation we sacrificed ourselves, we sacrificed our families. We did our best,” she explains.

Meanwhile, OFM News recently reported that Cosatu and other unions have taken to the streets of Bloemfontein to hand over a memorandum of demands to the office of the premier, Sisi Ntombela.

OFM News