The government is mulling over the introduction of a voluntary severance package offer to further reduce its 1.32-million staff headcount and bloated wage bill. Employee costs make up 36% of the national budget, leaving less for spending on other critical items. National Treasury director-general Lungisa Fuzile told reporters on Wednesday that the Treasury and the Department of Public Administration had launched a process to review existing provisions for voluntary severance packages. "We have got a legal framework that exists now which allows voluntary severance packages. We are looking at that framework to determine whether it is adequate to help us achieve the objectives we want to achieve or it will need something to make it more effective," he said. Michael Sachs, head of the Treasury’s budget office, said on the sidelines: "We don’t have an explicit [reduction] target, but the budget resources imply a moderate reduction in headcount over the medium term." The public service is...
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