Die huidige vlak van besoldiging in die openbare sektor en die nadelige gevolge daarvan

Abstract

In this article the author looks critically at the level of remuneration in the public sector and its detrimental effects. He concludes that the main reason for the imbalance with regard to the external market rate for public servants should not necessarily be attributed to the policy of the Public Service Commission; the main reasons are, rather, of a structural nature, viz. creeping socialism in modern government, and the normalization of the labour pattern of the Afrikaans speaking section of the South African population. This structural imbalance is increased by chronic inflation. These factors, together with the ceiling placed on top salaries of public servants by politicians and political appointments, plus rapid salary increases for new employees, limited the real scope of the salary scales of public servants. These, in turn, contributed to the high labour turnover. The author poses the question whether the time has not arrived for the function of the public service to be curtailed.