By Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa is tightening the noose on government expenditure as well as holding government departments accountable to ensure there is no wasteful expenditure.
This was part of the Budget reforms announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday.
He told MPs that a committee would be established in The Presidency to monitor expenditure in government departments.
The committee would work closely with the National Treasury to identify waste, inefficient and underperforming programmes.
The minister said that for over a decade, budgets have been trimmed across the board. While these measures have helped maintain fiscal discipline, it has not been interrogated whether the funds allocated were being used for the correct purposes and if they supported national priorities.
“We must acknowledge that over time budgets tend to grow incrementally, often carrying forward historical allocations, without necessarily reflecting the evolving needs of our country.
“This approach has led to inefficiencies, misalignments, duplications and, in some cases, the continued funding of programmes that do not yield the intended impact,” said the minister.
Godongwana said the government now recognised an urgent need to address the matter and it was not deaf to the public’s concern about wasteful and inefficient expenditure.
“We know that we must earn the taxpayer’s trust every day, by spending public money with care and ensuring that every rand collected is spent on its intended purpose,” he said.
The minister said that since 2013, as part of the ongoing revaluation of the operations of government, the National Treasury and provincial treasuries have undertaken 240 spending reviews.
The reviews ranged from examining efficiencies in administrative functions, like office accommodation, fleet management and overtime pay in various sectors, to measuring the effectiveness of service delivery programmes in health, education and human settlements.
The consolidated recommendations of these reviews will be taken to Cabinet in the next month.
“The president has also undertaken to establish a committee between the Presidency and Treasury to identify waste, inefficient and underperforming programmes.
“Thank you for this commitment, Mr President! As the National Treasury, we are ready to take the lead to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of spending,” he said.
He announced that the Treasury would undertake an audit of ghost workers, starting with national and provincial departments.
It would also use the ongoing, detailed review of labour market activation programmes and public employment programmes to consolidate and rationalise the entire public employment ecosystem.
He said the aim of the review was to reduce duplication and improve operational efficiencies across the more than 100 active labour market programmes in over 20 public institutions.
He promised that the recommendations of this review would be presented to Cabinet in due course.
Further, the Treasury would implement significant changes to the budget process by reassessing the initial assumptions informing budget allocations, with a view to creating room for improved spending.
Godongwana said the reviews would go beyond mere cost-cutting measures and will allow Treasury to systematically assess whether public expenditure was effectively aligned with the priorities of this government, and whether it delivered the best possible value for money.
“These initiatives will give impetus to the slow implementation of the recommendations of spending review. I call on ministers, MECs, DGs (directors-generals, HoDs (heads of departments) and every official responsible for public funds, to embrace these efforts and play their part,” he said.
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