Sisulu gets signed wage agreement from unions

This comes after government and the labour unions had reached an agreement on the salary increase for public servants last week.

According to the agreement, public servants will receive a 7% increase for 2012 and from 2013 to 2015, the increase will be based on the Consumer Price Index plus 1%.

The 7% increase will be backdated to May 1 and the housing allowance will increase to R900, an improvement of R100.

"The signing of this agreement by all unions begins the first step towards a lifetime partnership in service delivery and serving the people," Sisulu said.

"This kind of commitment from labour demonstrates our collective dedication towards the building of a new public service."

The minister said she planned to use the positive spirit demonstrated during the negotiations by all parties to advance the improvement of service delivery and drive the public service to higher productivity.

"We will in the coming weeks begin our stakeholder road shows to listen to all South Africans on how best they would like their public servants to serve them. It is now time to say no to bad service, and we must empower our citizens to voice out their dissatisfaction when they are not happy. Our people deserve five star service, nothing else," said Sisulu.

She also committed herself to completing the consultation process towards a "Service Delivery Charter or Accord" by the end of September 2012.

"We are beginning to lay the foundation and building blocks for a new public service where public servants meet and exceed public expectations," she said.