COSATU insists govt wage bill and headcount not 'out of control'
The ANC tripartite alliance partner said it was a 'false notion' that the wage bill was too high, saying it had actually declined over the last 20 years.
COSATU’s Parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks. Picture: X/Radio702
CAPE TOWN – The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) insists that the government wage bill and headcount is not “out of control”.
The African National Congress (ANC) tripartite alliance partner said it was a “false notion” that the wage bill was too high, saying it had actually declined over the last 20 years.
COSATU made the submission during the standing committee on appropriations public hearings on the division of Revenue Bill, which deals with equitable division of revenue to provinces, municipalities and national departments.
Organisations continued their appeal to National Treasury to adjust the budget and increase the allocations for functions like basic education and infrastructure.
On the public service, COSATU said there’s always a debate about how the wage bill is out of control and should be reduced in the budget.
Spokesperson, Matthew Parks said the wage bill, which is projected to exceed R750 billion for the current fiscal year, is not as high as it’s made out to be.
“There’s always a bit of a false notion that the wage bill is out of control, and it’s not. It’s declined over the past two decades from 40% to 31% of the budget. Others who say the headcount is out of control, again we’ve seen the headcount remain stable since 1994, literally same number, and the population has almost doubled.”
He said this is evident in the rise in the ratio of teachers to learners, nurses to patients and police officers to each member of society.