On 17 June 2021, SRC issued a circular guiding public service institutions that due to the slowdown in economic performance as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, remuneration and benefits for public officers would not be reviewed for FY 2021/2022 – 2022/2023.

The National Treasury reported that the economic growth rate had slowed down from 5.4 per cent in 2019 to 0.6 per cent in 2020, with a negative ramification on government revenue.

It is on this premise that the National Treasury advised SRC to put on hold the review of remuneration and benefits in the public service until FY 2023/2024.

The National Treasury further projected that the economy was to recover and grow at 6.6 per cent in 2021, consequently leading to growth in government revenue.