The South African public service wage bill deadlock in 2021: living on the edge
Publication date: 12 January 2021
Abstract
Subject area
Macro-Economics.
Study level/applicability
Undergraduate and MBA.
Case overview
The COVID 19 pandemic-related restrictions devastated South Africa’s economy in 2020 and although the restrictions were generally less damaging than in 2020, the government had to budget for vaccinations and rebuild the economy. Public service unions had just announced that they were demanding an increase of 4% above inflation for their members and that they were preparing for a strike. They were bitter about the fact that the South African Government had withdrawn from the last year of a three-year wage agreement in February 2020 and their members had not received an increase for the two years. These demands and Finance Minister Mboweni’s response to them had to consider the structural and cyclical impact on the fiscus and economy.
Expected learning outcomes
The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the general objectives of fiscal policy and stakeholders’ interests; understand the tradeoffs in fiscal policy and the implications of taking a position; and make recommendations based on reasoned judgements about those recommendations.
Complexity academic level
Undergraduate and MBA level courses on Macro Economics.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 10: Public Sector Management.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Disclaimer. This case is written solely for educational purposes and is not intended to represent successful or unsuccessful managerial decision-making. The authors may have disguised names; financial and other recognisable information to protect confidentiality.
Citation
Matthee, M. and Wöcke, A. (2021), "The South African public service wage bill deadlock in 2021: living on the edge", , Vol. 11 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/EEMCS-06-2021-0194
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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