JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s largest trade union federation COSATU said on Wednesday that it would not allow workers’ wages to be slashed, after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni used a budget speech to promise cuts to the public sector wage bill.

COSATU said in a statement that it was deeply angered by Mboweni’s budget, calling it “provocative” and “reckless”.

Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Catherine Evans