Free State health department’s wage bill is impacting its services
The department’s salary bill eats up 66% of its budget — yet 20% of posts are empty, largely due to potential employees losing patience with the slow processing of applications
The Free State health department’s steadily increasing salary bill is crowding out spending on goods and services, Parliament heard on Wednesday. This means there is less money available to hire more personnel, medicines and equipment, and highlights one of the pressures the national government has faced in negotiating its next three-year wage deal with civil servants."In spite of a Treasury instruction for the cost of employment to be reduced by 0.05% in 2016-17, it increased from 63% [of the budget] in 2011-12 to 66% in 2017-18. The vacancy rate, however, remains high," Free State head of health David Motau told Parliament’s health portfolio committee.About 20% of the health department’s posts stood empty, he said. Part of the reason for the high vacancy rate was that appointments had to be approved by the provincial treasury, and its slow turnaround time meant potential employees often lost patience and accepted other job offers.Staff costs constitute 65% of the provincial health...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.