Pretoria - While challenges remain, the lives of many South Africans have continued to improve, said the National Treasury on Wednesday.
“Despite continuing economic and social hardship, the lives of millions of South Africans have improved markedly over the past decade. Access to social infrastructure – formal housing, potable water, sanitation and electricity – has increased substantially,” said National Treasury.
This as Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene tabled the 2015 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament.
According to the MTBPS, which is also known as the mini budget, social grants continue to make a meaningful contribution to reducing extreme poverty.
“With 15% of the budget going to public education, there is universal access to basic education. Enrolments in early childhood development and post-school education continue to expand.”
Life expectancy in the country has risen from 52 years in 2006 to 61 years in 2014, as public health interventions limit the consequences of the HIV/Aids pandemic.
Child mortality has been halved over the past decade and there has been a substantial reduction in cases of severe malnutrition among children.
These achievements, according to the document, were made possible by government’s sustainable approach to allocating public funds.
Over the past decade, public spending has doubled in real terms, funding a large expansion of social and capital budgets.
National Treasury said expenditure growth will outpace inflation by about 1.6%.
When coming to the quantity, quality and composition of public spending, National Treasury said spending over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period totals R4.7 trillion.
“Yet the quantity of public expenditure is frequently let down by the quality of spending. Government is intensifying its efforts to improve value received for money spent,” states the MTBPS.
Government has appealed to all South Africans to support this goal by highlighting waste, inefficiency and corruption wherever it arises.
“National Treasury, working with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, will make greater use of expenditure reviews and evaluations in the allocation of resources.”
Procurement reforms have already begun to make tender awards more transparent and less susceptible to corruption and will achieve savings.
Public servants’ remuneration
Following the 2015 wage agreement with public servants, government is considering proposals to reform remuneration in the public sector.
According to the document, government is committed to fair and sustainable levels of public-sector remuneration as the country’s public servants make an important contribution to South Africa’s development goals.
The 2015 public sector wage agreement resulted in a 10.1 % increase in the wages and benefits of government employees this year -- well beyond the inflation-related adjustment that had been budgeted for.
Government said the wage agreement has consequences for the composition of spending, as salary requirements put pressure on capital and other critical inputs.
“Government recognises that there is a need to radically change the manner in which future negotiations are conducted and is considering proposals to reform remuneration in the public sector.
“We are trying to find a situation where we improve labour relations in terms of ensuring that we do arrive at a social compact. Protecting jobs and creating employment should actually be the primary focus.
“As things stand, we do accept that there is question as to whether the wage settlement does not crowd out priorities,” said Minister Nene at a media briefing ahead of tabling the MTBPS. - SAnews.gov.za
