Mboweni embraces DA proposal to cut the public wage bill; now is time for action
26 February 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes today’s announcement from finance minister Tito Mboweni that he supports the DA’s proposal to stave off a debt crisis by cutting the public wage bill by over R160 billion.
The DA has long argued that salary freezes for millionaire managers and reducing the number of managers in the public service by a third while protecting inflation-linked increases for frontline service delivery heroes like teachers and nurses, is the only way to prevent fiscal implosion.
Taken together, the DA’s measures will save R168 billion without raising any new taxes on overburdened South Africans. It is the only way out of this crisis.
We are however deeply concerned that Mboweni made this announcement even though the government has not even started the actual work of renegotiating wages. While we welcome Mboweni’s support for our proposal, they are currently just empty words. This government is already facing a huge credibility gap as a result of its failure to implement its past promises. Mboweni’s agreement with the DA today that we need to urgently cut the wage bill is, thus far, just the latest in a long line of promises devoid of any concrete action.