Expenditure in Presidency to increase to R637.9m for 2022, says Godongwana
Many have voiced worries about the duplication of government roles as well as the costs involved in housing so many experts in the Presidency.
FILE: New Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele and President Cyril Ramaphosa at the swearing-in ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 6 August 2021. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said that expenditure in the Presidency would go up by 1.4% this year to R637.9 million, with 61% of that going to the compensation of employees.
He announced the hike while also flagging that the public service wage bill continued to pose a risk to the country’s fiscal framework.
Godongwana tabled his first Budget Speech before a joint sitting of Parliament on Wednesday.
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He later told a briefing that wage restructuring was needed, suggesting some kind of a reconsideration of the money allocated for the wage bill.
There’s been concern over President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recently established State-Owned Enterprises Council, the COVID Command Council, the Economic Advisory Council and most recently his announcement of Sipho Nkosi’s appointment to his presidential office to deal with small business regulations, all of which fall under the president’s office.
Many have voiced worries about the duplication of government roles as well as the costs involved in housing so many experts in the Presidency.
The budget review lists implementing the economic reconstruction and recovery plan, coordinating the COVID Command Council and operationalising the e-Cabinet system as some of the office’s responsibilities this year.
Finance Minister Godongwana announced this boost for the Presidential Employment Initiative.
"Over the medium term, R76 billion is allocated for job creation products. In this Budget, an additional R18.4 billion has been made available for the presidential employment initiative," the minister said.
Treasury’s also been asked to work with the climate finance task team, which is also in the president’s office, to access green solutions and to seek funding to help with the transition.