At the heart of national fiscal consolidation is the relationship between available resources, resource mobilisation and the developmental imperatives of South Africa. The public discourse over the health of the fiscus is important, but also dangerous if limited to the public sector wage bill.
The cabinet has indicated that “measures to address the budget shortfalls must not impact negatively on service delivery”; that “fiscal management does not derail the priorities agreed between the ministers and the president”. This emphasises that initiatives to manage the fiscus are to be located within development imperatives.
Despite the population growth since 1994, the bureaucracy has not grown in numbers. In terms of Persal data, there were 1,175,327 posts on average in the public service during the first quarter of 2023/24 (April to June), and on average 180,483 posts were vacant. This is almost the same number of public servants that South Africa had in 1994 when it had an estimated population of 44-million. Stats SA estimates that we now have 61-million South Africans. This does not take into account the number of undocumented immigrants.
Even with technological advancements, the public servant to citizen ratio is way below the comparable average in similar countries. We should also consider that 214,121 of the 1.1-million officials mentioned above are aged 55 and over, meaning that in the next five to 10 years they will be exiting the public service.
A number of initiatives have been undertaken to improve the ability of the public service to deliver on its mandate within the existing fiscal parameters
At 18% this might not look significant. However, when we zoom into the critical sectors of education and health, the percentage of officials aged 55 years and above increases dramatically to an average of 33%. The need for mentorship and the transfer of skills and institutional knowledge cannot be emphasised enough. Given this, it would make no sense to have a moratorium on filling vacant posts.
The state’s attempt to manage its finances to ensure a healthy fiscus should not be construed outside the context of developmental imperatives. These include the delivery of public goods and services, and the funding and managing of projects for job creation and poverty alleviation.
It is important to ensure that the 180,483 or so vacant posts are filled correctly. This includes following the relevant prescripts and prioritising staff in service delivery areas.
The government’s initiative for a healthy fiscus must not be construed in isolation from other initiatives. Besides initiatives around the filling of vacant posts and the reprioritisation of infrastructure projects there are also considerations on the utility of various state entities, state agencies, state-owned enterprises and local government. There is also a broader consideration on the macro-organisation of the state.
The process of fiscal consolidation is not minimalist. It is complex, integrated and co-ordinated. It entails:
- human resource prioritisation and management;
- focus on projects with a possible high impact on development;
- a reflection on how the government is structured in relation to appropriate usage of resources, including finances; and
- impact on productivity and service delivery.
The government’s integrated approach to fiscal consolidation is directly geared to meet the developmental aspirations of the state and society.
Compliance is important for good governance and is the basis for accountability. However, compliance is not an end in itself, but serves the purpose of ensuring that every public rand can be accounted for, and services are delivered to the people.
A number of initiatives have been undertaken to improve the ability of the public service to deliver on its mandate within the existing fiscal parameters:
- A directive for minimum entry requirements into senior management service (SMS) positions has been introduced, covering qualifications, experience and competencies, along with a pre-entry certificate into SMS administered by the National School of Government.
- Another initiative includes the barring of the transfer of staff from political offices into the bureaucracy.
- Last, but not least, is the limitation of the duration for appointments of staff additional to the structure.
The engagements between the National Treasury, the department of public service & administration (DPSA) and all government departments must be construed within the broader context of government work codified by annual performance plans, the professionalisation of the public service and overall state capacity building.
It is a holistic developmental agenda that seeks to balance resource availability and mobilisation with the realisation of the developmental goals, while ensuring transparency.
• Mabunda is the acting deputy director-general for human resources management and development in the DPSA. He writes in his personal capacity
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