Public workers in South Africa get 4% pay hike
The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has announced a 4% pay hike for public servants, effective 1 April 2026.
The increase will apply to all employees on salary levels 1 to 12 and those covered by Occupation Specific Dispensations (OSDs). The adjustment is a pensionable salary increase for all qualifying staff.
According to DPSA Minister Mzamo Buthelezi, the increase is a cost-of-living adjustment for 2026/27 in line with the 2025 resolution from the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).
While the current inflation projections for the year are around 3.4%, the bargaining council agreement included a floor and ceiling mechanism, setting the range at 4% to 6%.
The increase of 4% follows an increase of 5.5% in 2025/26, with the increase for 2027/28 based on the same CPI-projected rate as this year, limited to the same 4%-6% range.
The directive specifically covers employees appointed under the Public Service Act, 1994.
However, there are certain groups that are excluded from this, as their adjustments are handled by their respective Executive Authorities.
This includes:
- Senior Management Service (SMS): Salary levels 13 to 16 will be addressed once the level 1–12 process is finalised.
- Sectoral Personnel: Employees under the South African Police Services Act, Employment of Educators Act, South African Defence Act, and Correctional Services Act.
- NPA Personnel: Those employed under the National Prosecuting Authority Act.
Beyond the standard salary scales, the department noted that several other critical areas of public service remuneration are also addressed.
Notably, qualifying employees will receive pay progression for the 2025/26 performance cycle starting 1 July 2026.
The DPSA also instructed other departments to ensure that interns’ stipends are adjusted to match the new salary scales, effective 1 April 2026.
“Beyond the immediate salary scales, we are placing significant emphasis on the future of our workforce by ensuring that intern stipends and developmental programmes are adjusted in tandem with these new scales as we forge ahead in building a capable, ethical and developmental state,” Buthelezi said.
‘Overpaid and underperforming’
The latest increase comes amid criticism from political analysts that South Africa’s public workforce is bloated, overpaid, and frequently underperforming.
The claims were made by political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki, who told the SABC that inflated salaries for public workers over the last 15 years have come alongside a collapse in public services.
He said that South Africa has been transferring money to public servants at the expense of investment into public infrastructure and upkeep, leading to a decline.
He added that South Africa has one of the highest-paid civil services as a percentage of GDP in the world, spending between 10% and 12% of its total economic output on the public sector wage bill over the past three financial years.
This is higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 9.2% for the period and the G20 average of around 8%.
At the same time, public services have been in decline almost across the board, but especially at the municipal level.
“We have a problem that we call service delivery failures, but actually it is just a polite way to refer to the incompetence of the civil service,” Mbeki said.
However, this characterisation of the public service has been rejected by public worker unions, who instead point the finger higher up the chain in government.
The Public Servants Association (PSA) condemned Mbeki’s characterisation, saying it was “deeply disrespectful to hundreds of thousands of public servants who continue to deliver essential services under extremely challenging conditions”.
The union said that it was unfair to blame employees for systemic problems rooted in poor planning, corruption, cadre deployment, budget cuts, and failures at senior political and administrative levels.
“Where incompetence exists, it is often most visible at the top, yet employees are consistently used as convenient scapegoats,” it said.
It added that public servants are not overpaid, saying that many are overworked, under‑supported, and demoralised.
“Attacking their integrity undermines morale, erodes service delivery, and distracts from the urgent task of repairing governance failures,” it said.
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