JOHANNESBURG - Finance Minister Tito Mboweni told Parliament on Wednesday that government will be putting a stop to excessive salaries at public entities.
Mboweni said that President Cyril Ramaphosa told his government that wasteful expenditure needed to be dealt with.
Mboweni stated, "This is a vital step in restoring the confidence of the public in the government. We must get more value for our money. The President’s instruction requires a dynamic and appropriate mix of quantity, quality, capacity and capability in the administration of the state."
Mboweni further said, "We will accelerate merging and consolidating public entities. We will propose a new law to stop excessive salaries in these public entities. We must also deal decisively with the excessive high cost of leasing government buildings."
The Public Audit Act empowers the Auditor General to:
- Refer matters to a public body for investigation and prosecution
- Take binding remedial actions
- Recover money directly from the responsible culprits
Mboweni also said, that to show the determination of the executive to deal with runaway costs, a number of steps will be implemented.
These include:
- Abolishing the current wasteful subsidence and travel system
- Replacing the cell phone policy
- Requiring economy class travel for all domestic flights, except for exceptional circumstances
"Minister Pandor, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, is providing phenomenal leadership in building A Better Africa and a Better World. Her work is unlocking massive value for money from South Africa’s overseas missions," Mboweni said.
Mboweni said that Pandor was also:
- Closing and merging some missions
- Downgrading the level of representation
- Reducing the number of officials
- Establishing a fully-fledged Diplomatic Academy
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