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Sunday Times reports that the National Treasury has drafted a raft of proposals to drastically reduce the number of government departments and entities to cut spending.
The aim is the closure or merging of departments and entities that serve a similar mandate or are unlikely to fulfil their mandates. The proposals, if accepted, could save the country about R17bn in the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF). This would inevitably lead to retrenchments. Among the reconfiguration proposals is the closure of the department of sports, arts & culture and incorporating it in the department of basic education at national and provincial level. There is also a proposal to close the department of public works & infrastructure, leaving departments to manage their own buildings and asset registries. It is suggested that the departments of tourism and trade, industry & competition (DTIC) be merged. The department of women, youth & persons with disabilities is proposed to be turned into divisions in the Presidency or in the department of social development. The same is proposed for the department of planning, monitoring & evaluation, which could be merged with either the Presidency or the department of public service & administration. The department of small business development should become a division in the DTIC. Entities that could be merged or closed include the Road Traffic Management Corporation, which would go to the department of transport. The government is also understood to be proposing merging Brand SA, SA Tourism, Trade Investment SA, Export Marketing and Investment Assistance and the department of international relations & co-operation’s foreign marketing programme to establish a new entity. Government Communications & Information Services (GCIS) would become a division in the Presidency. A single human rights body could house the SA Human Rights Commission, the commissions for gender equality and for the promotion and protection of the rights of cultural, religious and linguistic communities as well as the Pan South African Language Board. Denel and the Armaments Corporation of SA (Armscor) could be merged to establish a new entity. There is also a view that the department of public enterprises (DPE) should be closed.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgothatso Madisa at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
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