MTBPS: Enoch Godongwana Sets Aside R11 Billion To Encourage Early Retirement

• The Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that R11 billion will be set aside to encourage older government workers to retire
• He announced during the Mid-Term Budget Policy Speech (MTBPS) and said it was to reduce the high wage bill
• He said that Cabinet has approved the budget, and it would ease the pressure on the wage bill, which stands at R298 billion

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, the State of the Nation Address, Parliament and Parliamentary committees, politician-related news and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.

PARLIAMENT — The Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana said the Treasury would set aside R11 billion for early retirement.

R11 billion for early retirement

Godongwana's R11 million allocation to encourage senior civil servants to retire earlier will ease the pressure on the wage bill, which is set to be R298 billion over the mid-term expenditure framework. During his delivery of the MTBPS, he said the government would save R2 billion annually. He also said that the cabinet approved the early retirement plan.

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Godongwana further explained that the programme is designed not only to reduce the overall costs associated with government employment but also to create opportunities for younger people to enter and thrive within the public service sector. He said government institutes' accounting officers will be given the authority to approve the early retirement applications.

Godongwana revealed that those who apply for early retirement would not be penalised, and the government aims to offer voluntary separation packages to 30,000 qualifying government employees. He also revealed that the government is negotiating a proposed 4.7% salary increase with unions. Wage talks began at the beginning of October 2024 and were in response to a 12% pay increase.

Economist on the Fence on MTBPS

In a related article, Briefly News reported that economist Dawie Roodt was on the fence about Godongwana's speech.

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Speaking to Briefly News before Godongwana delivered the speech, he said that the economy would significantly improve if the bad parts of the African National Congress were removed from the government.

Source: Briefly News