The Standing Committee on Appropriations is pleased with the submissions made by Equal Education, Public Service Accountability Monitor, COSATU, NUMSA, University of Witwatersrand and University of South Africa at the public hearings on the 2014 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement yesterday.
The Committee has noted that both COSATU and NUMSA have raised concerns in their submissions that the reduction of the wage bill in the public sector will have a negative effect on job creation. The Committee does not agree with the assertion that reducing the public sector wage bill will have negative effects on job creation but rather is of the view that there has to be a review of funded positions that have been left vacant for a number of years.
This review process will not only address the matter of the huge public wage bill but it will also assist in determining whether these positions that have been left vacant for too long are critical and necessary. The Committee is also of the view that the country cannot rely solely on government for job creation but that all sectors that are role-players in the economy must participate in creating jobs in our country.
The Committee has also resolved to pay particular attention to the issue of lack of schools infrastructure delivery that was raised by Equal Education and Public Service Accountability Monitor.
The Committee agrees with EE and PSAM’s view that there has been significant progress made in the delivery of school infrastructure but many South African schools are considered unsafe or inappropriate. The Committee is also aware of the interventions by government that are taking place in the education sector, particularly in the Eastern Cape.
Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Appropriations, Mr Paul Mashatile, says the Committee is impressed with the good work done by Equal Education and Public Service Accountability Monitor on school infrastructure, but he believes more capacity is needed at the Department of Basic Education to deal with this work. He says resources should not just be allocated for infrastructure and not be used.
“All of us sitting here do not want to see schools like that. We will engage with National Treasury. But we also want to see a holistic picture. There are a number of conditional grants that have been allocated to the educational sector in this effect and we want to look at the efficiencies of these grants,” says Mr Mashatile.
The Committee has noted the issues raised by the stakeholders that made submissions before and will be paying close attention to them.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Faith Kwaza
Cell: 072 122 0371
Tel: 021 403 8062
E-mail: fkwaza@parliament.gov.za
