As the nation celebrates a slight drop in the unemployment rate in the second quarter of the year, that is not the reality for about 5,000 of the Department of Agriculture’s employees. The Agricultural Assistant Practitioners (APP) at the department will have no jobs from August 2023.
The South African economy surprisingly picked up between March and June this year after the growth of payrolls by 154,000 employees over the period. The number of unemployed people fell by 11,000 to 7,9 million. But thousands of APPs across the country will be claiming from the UIF because their contracts were not renewed in July. The APPs were appointed in January this year with three-month agreements. Their retrenchments were unexpected, and the now disgruntled employees are looking for some recourse.
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Miscommunication Between Senior Staff and the APPs at the Department of Agriculture
The AAPs were hired to boost the agricultural sector’s extension services across the country. In an email to senior members of the Department of Agriculture, there was an indication that nine months would be added to the tenures of the APPs after a three-month extension; this made them certain that their jobs would be safe.
During their contract periods, some APPs were furthering their studies. This proved to be a threat to their jobs because the department expressed that “they would be eliminated from the programme because they had to make spaces for those who are unemployed and not working.”
Budget Constraints at the Department of Agriculture
The retrenchments follow the department’s failure to pay some of the July salaries, demonstrating that there is a budget issue at the Department of Agriculture. A letter to the APPs stated:
“The Department at this stage cannot sustain this additional costs due to budget cuts on the Compensation of Employees (COE).”
“However, the Department will continue to explore finding a solution for the practitioners. It is regrettable that the Department has to inform the AAPs of the termination of the employment contracts as at end of July 31, 2023,” Msomi wrote in his letter.”
The APPs have since reached out to the media for a resolution of the matter.