Last week’s budget speech reminded me of a column I wrote a few months ago about public servants and how they don’t seem to appreciate the relatively luxurious work-lives that they are enjoying.
I wrote about how infuriating it was that ANC MP Peace Mabe was planning to resist plans to rein in her and colleagues’ perks.
Shortly afterwards, the Deputy Minister of Finance raised the possibility of a state pay freeze, to further bring the government’s ballooning wage bill under control.
I further vented about regular government workers who serve the public with sour-faced reluctance as if they are doing us a huge favour.
All this while they remain secure in their jobs and their salaries at the end of the month; enjoying perks like guaranteed paid leave, bonuses, increases, pension funds and so on.
And now, following Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s budget speech, I must admit that I feel a little guilty (as if the minister reads this page religiously every week).
He announced that he wants to reduce the public sector compensation bill by as much as R160 billion over the next three years.
And that of course means job cuts.
No doubt the unions will fight tooth and nail to prevent this, but the problem is our economy is moving at a snail’s pace and companies just cannot afford the dead wood anymore.
And government isn’t immune to the ebb and flow of a free-market capitalist economy.
In other words, private companies have been laying off staff by the thousands, which means less tax being paid, which in turn means less in the kitty to pay the salaries of public servants.
If you recall the article I wrote at the time, you may remember me talking about those civil servants who are simply just too bored in their jobs to care.
If the cull that Mboweni is talking about does indeed come, then they will be the first to go.
That’s the problem with job security there really is no such thing, especially if you’re not one of the few people who are passionate about what they do for a living.
I feel sorry for those people who will lose their jobs as a result of this.
While living in Joburg some years ago, I was unemployed.
It was truly the worst six weeks of my life in which I was the most insecure I had ever been.
So it’s not something I would wish upon anyone.
But at the same time, it also made me understand that it was a position that I never wanted to find myself in again.
So, I reckon that this could be a wonderful opportunity for those public servants who clearly don’t enjoy what they do; for whom it is merely a job to get through every day.
But it is also a lesson for the rest of us that - no matter what it is you do for a living - there really is no such thing as job security.
But there is career contentment.
Doing something that you love eventually leads to income security.