By REGINALD KANYANE
9 July 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration today welcomed the announcement by the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, to institute three critical spending reviews aimed at improving the efficiency, integrity and developmental impact of government expenditure.
The reviews, announced during the Minister’s budget vote debate, will focus on standardising the remuneration of executives and board members of public entities, auditing and eliminating ghost workers and investigating the persistent underspending and delivery failures associated with infrastructure conditional grants at the provincial and municipal levels.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Jan de Villiers said these reviews are not only welcome but long overdue. De Villers said they echo the committee’s consistent calls for a professionalised public service, one that is results-based, provides value for public money, and adopts a zero-tolerance approach to corruption, waste and political patronage.
“We support the development of a standardised remuneration framework for public entity executives and board members. Salaries must be fair, transparent and directly linked to the entity’s mandate, complexity and performance.
“There can be no justification for exorbitant pay packages where service delivery is in crisis or entities are failing. On the issue of ghost workers, we reaffirmed the committee’s view that this is not a minor administrative flaw, but a form of organised, systemic corruption that siphons off public funds and undermines trust in the state,” he said.
De Villiers said these are not invisible names on paper – these are real funds stolen from the public. He said the committee calls for these audits to lead to consequences.
“We want to see prosecutions, dismissals and systemic reform. The committee will continue to monitor this process closely, and a joint oversight meeting with the Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is scheduled for the third quarter of 2025.
“The committee also welcomed broader government efforts to professionalise the state, including the digitisation of human resource and payroll systems, the introduction of lifestyle audits and the rollout of skills audits within departments,” said de Villers.
He said this followed a briefing by the DPSA and the National School of Government this morning on the government’s progress in digitising the public service and aligning training and upskilling with departmental needs. De Villiers said the creation of a professional, merit-based and non-partisan public service is both constitutionally mandated and essential to improving service delivery for all South Africans.
“Skills audits are particularly critical as they allow us to assess whether departments are staffed appropriately and whether officials have the qualifications and competencies needed to fulfil their mandates.
“Responding to this morning’s briefing, the Chairperson said digitisation and upskilling will help empower officials and drive improved service delivery, particularly in under-resourced areas,” he said.
De Villiers said they must know not just who is employed in the public service, but whether they are fit for purpose. He said skills audits, alongside digital transformation and standardised pay, create an opportunity to reconfigure departments to meet the needs of the public better.
“Where upskilling is required, it must be supported. Where restructuring is needed, it must be done responsibly. The committee remains committed to actively overseeing these reviews, focusing on results rather than rhetoric.
“We are planning a joint meeting with the Department of Public Service and Administration and National Treasury in the third quarter of 2025 to obtain further updates, including a detailed progress update on the ghost worker audit, implementation of lifestyle audits and alignment between performance and pay in the public sector, as well as consequence management for those involved in fraud and maladministration,” said de Villiers.
He said they will not allow these reviews to become another policy gesture. De Villiers said they must be executed with urgency, rigour and public accountability.
The Guardian 