Question NW1978 to the Minister of Finance
21 November 2024 - NW1978
Maotwe, Ms OMC to ask the Minister of Finance
Considering National Treasury’s strategy of allowing early retirements to align public servant’s headcount with budget which he outlined in his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, (a) what total number of civil servants are being targeted and (b) how will this affect service delivery?
Reply:
a) Government is incentivising early retirement with the aim of achieving two broad objectives, which are rejuvenating the public service through employment of graduates and younger professionals as well as aligning public service headcounts with the budget. The current allocation of R11 billion in the 2024 MTBPS is based on an assumption of approximately 30 000 employees exiting the public service. However, the final number will depend on the respective salary levels of the employees that would be approved for early retirement.
b) Executive authorities have the authority in terms of section 16(6) of the Public Service Act to approve early retirement applications and ensuring that the initiative does not reduce the pool of highly skilled individuals within their respective government departments. Therefore, the programme would not be a ''free'' for all employees in the identified age categories as such decisions will rest with the executive authorities taking into account the impact on service delivery. Further details about the implementation of the programme will be communicated once the discussions with labour at the Public Service Coordination Bargaining Council have been concluded.