By Kouthar Sambo
In response to a Parliamentary question from the Economic Freedom Fighters MP Omphile Maotwe, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the National Treasury’s plan to cut South Africa’s budget by letting some government employees retire early will not affect service delivery or be a “free-for-all”.
Speaking on VOC’s PM Drive show, political analyst Angelo Fick said that if the move refers to retirement, it does not necessarily mean seniority. However, he clarifies that the historical memory of people who have worked in a department for decades is likely to be lost.
“There aren’t talks of taking people in their place because that would defeat the objective of cutting costs to save. However, Godongwana has been stressing the tightening of belts around the public sector wage.”
“If the plan was that Godongwana was going to retire expensive and hire cheaper younger people in their place, then we could assume this could be a fresh opportunity for graduates, but I don’t think this is the aim,” clarified Fick.
Photo: VOCfm [screenshot]
