The national and provincial governments paid R2.6 billion in bonuses to “cadres and millionaire managers” in the 2018/2019 financial year, according to the Democratic Alliance (DA).
In a statement on Friday, DA’s shadow public service and administration minister Leon Schreiber said the national government spent R628 million and provincial governments R1.97 billion.
“These bonuses are paid to cadres in management positions on top of their average annual salary of R1.4 million per year,” he wrote.
‘Government rewards incompetence and corruption’
Schreiber added, “In a clear demonstration that the government rewards incompetence and corruption, officials working in dozens of government departments that received adverse audit outcomes still got hundreds of millions of rands in bonuses.”
He claimed that Gauteng paid R848 million in bonuses, Limpopo R396 million and Mpumalanga R244 million.
At the national level, the department of water and sanitation reportedly paid out the highest amount – R101 million.
Schreiber contrasted these amounts with a R50 million reduction in government expenditure on cervical cancer treatment and R40 million on eradicating pit latrines.
Finance Minister Tito Mobweni revealed these reductions in his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in October.
‘Immoral choice’
“This is the immoral choice the ANC continues to make: protecting millionaire cadres while cutting basic services from our most vulnerable citizens,” Schreiber said.
The DA repeated its call for a wage freeze for government managers and administrators for three years and reduction of “millionaire managers” by a third. According to the party, this would save government R168 billion “immediately.”
In his MTBPS, Mboweni said the government is currently spending more than it collects in revenue and taxes.
He said, “29,000 public servants, plus members of the national executive, members of Parliament, members of provincial executives, and so forth, each earned more than R1 million last year.
“The consolidated budget deficit is now projected at 5.9% of GDP in the current year. This year, the national debt exceeded R3 trillion. It is expected to rise to R4.5 trillion in the next three years.
“As things stand, without any policy adjustments, debt will most likely exceed 70% of GDP by 2022/23. This is a serious position to be in.”