The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, COGTA, Velenkosini Hlabisa has announced the cancellation of the retrenchments of about 67 000 Community Works Program (CWP) workers.
The workers aged 55 and above were set to lose their jobs end of this month following an announcement by Hlabisa in December. At the time he said the “retrenchments were due to the department’s budget cuts from the National Treasury for the 2024/25 financial years.” The decision to cancel the job cuts follows a meeting between Hlabisa and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Friday.
Meanwhile, trade union federation COSATU has welcomed the decision, adding that the decision will provide badly needed comfort for the vulnerable workers and their families. COSATU’s parliamentary Coordinator Matthew Parks said the unions together with its affiliate SAMWU is pleased with Godongwana’s intervention. “We are pleased with the minister’s intervention that has borne fruit with, and the announcement funds have been secured to cover these worker’s salaries for the months of January to March 2025 and further engagements will take place for the new financial year,” said Parks.
The union added that a progressive longer term funding solution for the April 2025 budget is needed. Parks warned that had Hlabisa went ahead with the retrenchments, that would have had negative impact on the country’s economy and unemployment rate.
“This would have plunged these workers into absolute misery in an economy with a 41.9% unemployment rate. Most of these workers are women in rural areas and townships where jobs are virtually non-existent and many of them do not qualify for the old age grant. As much as CWP wages are a pittance, ending them would have subjected these workers to starvation,” explained Parks.