Hon Deputy Speaker, the DA is deeply concerned that this Parliament continues to skirt around the two most fundamental crisis plaguing South Africa's public service, namely, cadre deployment and the out of control wage bill.
Our country simply cannot prosper without a structural overhaul of how the government appoints, dismisses and disciplines corrupt and incompetent officials. Yet, the reports in front of this House today fail to acknowledge that cadre deployment is at the root of our rotten state.
While we welcome the Department of Public Service and Administration, DPSA, report's commitment to amend
legislation, to make the recommendations of the Public Service Commission legally binding, the report fails to admit that the Public Service Commission should also be given the powers of full appointment and dismissal.
At the same time, the reports entirely ignore the wage bill crisis which will sink this country if we don't address it. This Parliament is apparently dead set on protecting the salaries of the 29 000 millionaire cadres, even if it dooms the South African economy.
As things stands, spending on wages is set to balloon to R758 billion by 2022-23 devouring any prospect of economic recovery. If this Parliament was serious about tackling these crises it will adopt the DA's proposal to build a professional public service by giving the Public Service Commission powers of appointment and slash the wage bill by cutting the millionaires salaries of cadres to protect public service delivery. Thank you, Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]