Mthuli Sets Bold 50% Cap On Civil Service Wage Bill

Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Mthuli Ncube has unveiled a bold move to cap civil service spending at 50% of the national budget, in a bid to rein in soaring wage costs amid a shrinking tax base.

The announcement comes on the heels of the government cutting 3,000 jobs between September last year and June this year, alongside efforts to root out ghost workers through biometric audits across ministries and agencies. Said Ncube:

“We agree that this is high. Clearly, this is of concern to us as Treasury, and we will make every effort to manage this.

“They (civil servants) work very hard, and they want to put pressure on us as Treasury, as government, to keep improving their working conditions.

“This will push up the wage, and therefore we have to do balance this kind of situation.

“It used to be 80%, and we’ve come a long way, but really we don’t want to go below 50%.

“In fact, in our target list, it should be maximum 50%, no more than 50%. So it’s an issue which I agree with the observers on this.”

Ncube said the government’s wage-bill containment plan will involve rationalising public service posts, right-sizing employment, cutting budget travel, and streamlining foreign missions, while unavoidable obligations like pensions will remain intact.

Physical audits are also planned to verify that all beneficiaries are legitimate and properly documented.

The initiative, approved by Cabinet last year, followed a Public Service Commission review across 21 ministries, which highlighted grade advancements in breach of job evaluation principles, overlapping roles, functional duplications, identical duties among directors and chief directors, managerial positions outnumbering non-managerial ones, and dead-end specialist roles.

The findings triggered a nationwide review of staffing levels, leading to rationalisation, upskilling and re-skilling programs, and the introduction of a new compensation framework with a salary structure aligned to equal pay principles.

More: Business Times

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