South Africa's communications regulator has a pay fight on its hands. Members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union at the Independent Communications Authority of SA began a protected strike on Thursday, after talks over salaries for the year to March 2027 broke down. The sticking point is a 4.5% cost-of-living increase that Icasa offered and the union refused.
Icasa's position is that the money simply is not there. The authority says it is under significant financial strain, pointing to a R60 million budget deficit in 2025 on expenditure of almost R600 million, about two-thirds of which goes on staff costs. When consultations failed to produce a deal, Icasa invoked a clause in its remuneration policy that lets it implement its final offer, and pushed the 4.5% increase through in the June payroll.
How it reached a strike
The dispute followed the standard procedural path to a legal walkout. According to a letter to staff from Icasa's chief executive, the parties failed to agree and the CCMA issued Nehawu with a certificate of non-resolution, the step that permits a protected strike. A no-work-no-pay principle applies for the duration, in line with agreed picketing rules, and staff have been told to work from the office until further notice.
A regulator that cannot afford to pause
Icasa insists none of its services will be affected while the strike runs, an assurance that matters given how much sits on its desk. The regulator oversees broadcasting, postal and telecommunications services, runs a consumer-protection unit, and is currently working through rapid-deployment regulations and spectrum-licensing matters, none of which pause conveniently for a labour dispute. The standoff echoes 2023, when Icasa staff struck for seven days after Nehawu rejected a 4.4% offer, eventually settling on a 5% rise plus a one-off R20,000 payment. Whether history repeats will depend on how long the deadlock holds and how much either side is willing to move. For now, one number is missing from the public account: exactly what increase Nehawu is demanding. Until that gap closes and the two sides return to the table, the regulator is working through its in-tray a body short.
