FINANCE minister Tito Mboweni says in Treasury’s quest to reduce the unsustainable public wage bill, older public servants who want to do so, must retire early and gracefully.
He said the national and provincial compensation budgets will be reduced by R27 billion over the next three years.
“This will save an estimated R4.8 billion in 2019 and 2020, R7.5 billion in 2020/21 and R8 billion in 2021/22."
"In time this will be complemented by limits on overtime and bonus payments as well as pay progression,” Mboweni said.
The minister said the system of staffing diplomatic missions is unjustified and should be reviewed urgently.
Meanwhile, Mboweni emphasized that taxes raised in wealthier areas will fund poorer provinces and municipalities.
“In this budget, 47.9% of nationally-raised funds are allocated to national government, 43% to provinces and 9.1% to local government over the medium term, after providing for debt-service costs and the contingency reserve,” Mboweni said.