Government canât borrow R70bn to increase public servantsâ salaries, says Senzo Mchunu Share Johannesburg - Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu has warned that the government would have to borrow over R70 billion to comply with the agreement to increase public servants' salaries it failed to honour last year. Mchunu filed his written submissions ahead of next month's Constitutional Court battle between unions representing state employees and the government over the failure to increase their salaries in 2020. The agreement reached at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC) in 2018 would have seen salaries increase by between 4.4% and 5.4% agreed with effect from April 1, 2020.