THE costs of setting up offices for two new ministers and seven additional deputy ministers of the President Cyril Ramaphosa-led government of national unity (GNU) is likely to be more than R90 million.
Following the ANC's decline in support after the May 29 national and provincial polls, in which the ANC could only obtain just over 40% of the votes, Ramaphosa added two ministerial and seven deputy ministerial positions to his national executive to accommodate other parties to the GNU.
It has now emerged from the National Treasury that the costs of establishing the offices of new ministers and their deputies will be capped at R14.4m and R8.8m, respectively, following Ramaphosa's proclamation establishing the reconfiguration of government.
Treasury has produced the national macro organisation of government (NMOG) guide to facilitate and support the realignment of budget resources to give effect to the shift of functions and transfer of functions between departments, institutions and other organs of state through the medium-term budget process.
According to the guide, in the establishment costs of the offices of the new ministers and deputy ministers, provision must be made primarily through reprioritisation of department’s budgets.
”If the offices of the new ministers and deputy ministers are established in a new department, then the department it is aligned with for transitional purposes must bear the reprioritisation costs,” Treasury stated.
In cases where identified funds for reprioritisation are insufficient, an application for funding through unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure can be made in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The PFMA makes provision for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to table an adjustment budget in the National Assembly as and when necessary and this may only provide for unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure recommended by the national executive or any Cabinet committee to whom this task has been assigned.
The departments which had to fund the establishment new offices also had to notify Treasury on the processes for possible unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure.
Among the departments affected by the NMOG – the splitting of the ministry of higher education, science and innovation into new ministries of higher education and science, technology and innovation – modifications can be implemented in time to be included in the Adjustments Appropriation Bill scheduled to be tabled later this month.
In relation to the splitting of the departments of mineral resources and energy and agriculture and land reform, it has been agreed that their foundational documents should be published with an effective date of April next year.
Other affected departments include the public enterprises, which was abolished after the elections and oversight is currently provided by planning, monitoring and evaluation in the Presidency.
The ministry formerly known as justice and correctional services has now been split into justice and constitutional development and correctional services.
On the costs relating to the compensation of employees in order to accurately estimate the costs and/or savings associated with the NMOG process particularly as they relate to employee remuneration, departments will need to analyse the new post establishment to determine which posts are filled, vacant, funded and unfunded.
Treasury wants unfunded posts to be abolished and not considered in the NMOG process.
”The objective is to ensure that there is sufficient budget to cover the remuneration costs associated with the restructured departments including over the medium to long term,” explained the guide.
During the NMOG process, a national steering committee chaired by Presidency director-general Phindile Baleni and including senior managers from various departments across five work streams.
The work streams will deal with posts and functions to be transferred and review of organisational structures in the new departments, reconcile budgets of the new department and identify financial needs and audit all contracts and service level agreements, legislation and memoranda of understanding to be transferred, among others.