Finance Minister Tito Mboweni wants President Cyril
Ramaphosa’s cabinet to consist of no more than 25 members as government
scrambles to rein in the burgeoning public sector wage bill - currently more
than R500-billion a year.
Mboweni made the remarks at a media briefing he hosted in
parliament ahead of the presentation of his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement
on Wednesday.
Mboweni said if asked‚ he would advise Ramaphosa that it
simply made no "financial and political sense" to have a cabinet of
35 ministers‚ with each one of them having a deputy - while some even have two
people deputising for them.
"If he asked me about the size of the cabinet‚ I would
say preferably not more than 25…probably 20 is more than ideal‚" said
Mboweni.
"China is a big economy and I think they have about 25
ministers or something like that. We have no economically‚ financially and
politically understandable reason that you can have an executive that's up to
70 people – that's what I would say to him."
Mboweni said the public sector wage bill accounted for 35%
of consolidated government expenditure.
He called on government departments to be strict in their
management of overtime payments‚ promotions and improvement of other conditions
of service.
"Over time‚ wages have crowded out other goods and
services and capital investment‚ particularly in health‚ education and defence.
In some cases‚ this has contributed to a build-up of unpaid invoices in
provincial departments‚" said Mboweni in his speech.
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"Around 85% of the increase in the wage bill is due to
higher wages‚ rather than headcount increases."
Mboweni's MTBPS shows that the national treasury has not
set aside any money to finance a public sector increase for 2019.
Mboweni said ministers also needed to play their part in
reducing the cost of running the state‚ saying they would have to reduce their
office benefits.
His remarks come as Ramaphosa is currently considering the
size and shape of government departments and ministries‚ which the president
announced in his state of the nation address in February.
A minister earns an average annual salary of R2.4-million‚
with their deputies earning R1.9-million. The ministerial handbook allows
ministers to hire at least 10 staff members in their private offices but this
stipulation is often exceeded.
"When we go to those negotiations and so on‚ the
ministers as well have to demonstrate that they are walking the talk. The
numbers of advisors and so on that they accumulate around themselves‚ the staff
complements. Once a minister comes into office they change their staff….
“We have to demonstrate some restraint ourselves‚ the cars
we drive for example. In the first government of national unity in 1994‚ we
introduced what was called a six pack‚ a package of measures that we called
belt-tightening. Maybe we also need that for members of the executive‚ but
that's the president's issue. But we have to demonstrate something tangible . .
.” Times
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