Public service minister Richard Baloyi has undertaken to solve problems and implement a new wages framework for public sector employees by the end of the month, in an agreement hammered out with unions on Monday.
The agreement was reached on Monday after the minister spent almost the entire day locked in discussions in a bid to avert a threatened crippling public sector strike over government's failure to implement the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD).
Baloyi was one of seven ministers who met the ANC and its ally, Cosatu, at Luthuli House on Monday in the face of mounting frustration among public sector workers over delays in implementing OSD.
The OSD agreement - reached after a public sector strike in 2007 - will be the focus of talks at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) meeting in Centurion tomorrow, when the government will table its offer on unions' demands.
A workshop to thrash out "bottlenecks" hindering implementation of the OSD - said to arise chiefly from differing interpretations of the agreement - is set to take place at the PSCBC on Thursday, involving unions and government negotiators. Baloyi has organised the workshop in consultation with the unions.
After meeting Cosatu and the ANC, Baloyi went on to meet negotiators from non-Cosatu affiliates the Independent Labour Caucus as well as the Federation of Unions of South Africa on Monday afternoon.
While Cosatu welcomed the agreement - while warning that it did not necessarily mean there would not be strike action - both the ILC and Fedusa described Baloyi's promise to resolve the impasse as "ambitious".
Public sector unions abandoned salary negotiations with government negotiators at the bargaining council a few weeks ago, threatening to bring the public service to its knees if the OSD issue was not resolved.
Speaking after the three-hour meeting, Fedusa deputy general-secretary Gretchen Humphries said Baloyi's goal could be out of reach.
"I am not sure whether it is possible to resolve all implementation issues in just a few weeks. When you look at education, we have so many problems - and I am not sure whether this will be resolved.
"This is too short a time-frame. But we are optimistic, because this is the first time we have a minister who is making sense," said Humphries.
Fedusa, which represents 160 000 public servants, said it would not hesitate to get a mandate from members to protest if their demands were not met.
Speaking on behalf of the Independent Labour Caucus, spokesperson for the SA Police Union, Barries Machakela, said unions would work with Baloyi to resolve the issues.
"He (Baloyi) has said we must take his word because he has identified the problem areas. He has asked for a week or two and we are confident he has what it takes to turn this around.
"There has been a problem (in) that government negotiators have different interpretations of how to implement OSD, which has led to lots of dissatisfaction - and he has identified that. If it's not going to happen, unions have been mobilising - but Baloyi wants to avoid the strike," said Machakela.
Cosatu was confident after meeting yesterday, among others, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and ministers Baloyi, Aaron Motsoaledi (health), Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula (correctional services), Angie Motshekga (basic education) and Edna Molewa (social development).
The federation's spokesperson Sdumo Dlamini said they were looking forward to tomorrow's meeting between all affected public sector unions and government negotiators.
But while he said Cosatu was "positive" about yesterday's meeting, Dlamini did not rule out further mass action. "Until unions have had an input, it's difficult to say (whether) we have averted the crisis or not - but the objective that we think we have achieved is that we are closer to resolving this OSD issue than before.
"We were happy with their response. The way forward is clear now, but this doesn't mean that our planned mass action has been averted, because we still have demands concerning the OSD issue," said Dlamini.
Baloyi's spokesperson, Sefako Nyaka, said the minister was intent on achieving his goal: "That is a collective decision taken by unions and government to set a deadline for the end of the month. On Wednesday government will table its offer on the OSD to unions, and on Thursday we will bring stakeholders together to unlock the deadlocks," said Nyaka.