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Public sector wage increases have begun to align more closely with inflation, following the conclusion of occupation-specific wage dispensations and the three-year wage settlement reached in 2011, the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday.

Presenting his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament, Gordhan said the compensation of public servants now accounts for 39.4% of the budget of non-interest spending and will continue to outpace inflation, but will grow at a slower rate than over the past three years.

The increase in the public sector wage bill was driven by the implementation of occupation-specific wage dispensations designed to raise public-sector salaries for skilled and experienced staff.

While the average level of wage settlements grew at about eight percent in 2010 in a year when inflation was running at about four percent, last year wage settlements grew at about seven percent, slightly above inflation at about six percent.

Since 2005, more than 250 000 additional public servants – mostly nurses, teachers and police officers – were added to the government’s payroll – both at a national and provincial level.

Of the over 1.2 million public servants, 485 370 or 38.8% are in the education sector, with 318 756 or 25.5% in health care and 275 154 or 22% in policing and criminal justice.

Gordhan said the National Treasury, together with the Department of Public Service and Administration, is working to improve the monitoring of wage-bill trends.

He, however, expressed concern over the increase in managerial and administrative staffing across the government.

The minister said government aimed to maintain current staff numbers over the next three years, adding that any new positions created would have to be backed up by a compelling explanation. – SAnews.gov.za