Moneyweb reports that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana advised in his Budget speech on Wednesday that the provisional allocation for the civil service early retirement programme had been retained, but had been revised down from R11 billion estimated in the 2024 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement to R5.5 billion across 2025/26 and 2026/27.

Re-introduced last year, the incentive aims to rationalise and rejuvenate the public service while retaining critical skills and promoting the entry of younger talent. “This initiative is expected to motivate 15,000 public service employees to apply for early retirement in 2025/26 and 2026/27, with R5.5 billion allocated to support the programme”, National Treasury Director-General Dr Duncan Pieterse indicated. The public sector wage bill has weighed heavily on the fiscus for years, and attempts to rein it in have been largely unsuccessful. Pieterse noted that discussions with organised labour on the process for people to apply for early retirement were underway in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC). “The allocation will be revisited on the conclusion of these consultations as part of the next budget process, although functions that are not parties to the PSCBC process – such as the Department of Defence – can proceed with implementation,” he indicated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Anathi Madubela at Moneyweb

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