National Government has denied media reports that it will retrench up to 30 000 public servants. Its Public Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo refuted these claims made by news publication Mail & Guardian, which stated that the retrenchments would take place in an effort for Government to save R20-billion.
Dlodlo said that the reality is that President Ramaphosa made the call to restructure government to enhance its service delivery, and make public service more effective by removing unnecessary functions and structures. This, however, does not include the option of retrenchment.
“(The report’s) intended objective is to create unnecessary and dangerous panic – not only in the public service but the entire country and it must be rejected with the contempt it deserves,” she said. “The report is a complete misrepresentation of the government’s program in relation to the macro organisation of the state and the initiatives proposed to manage the public sector wage bill.”
Dlodlo added that there is also no evidence that suggests that the public service sector is overstaffed.
“I assure public servants that government does not have a plan to retrench public servants en masse as alleged by the Mail & Guardian newspaper. If people leave the public service, it will not be because of retrenchment, but it will be because of packages offered to them with no penalties,” she said.
She acknowledges that government has been looking at reducing numbers, but has not made the decision to implement retrenching.
Dlodlo said that government has also been looking at ways of relieving the older generation to make way for the younger generation, and is looking at other options such as reskilling.
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