The Provincial Treasury reported that there was a 3320 growth in personnel in the Eastern Cape Department of Health between 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011. The said growth in personnel was not budgeted for resulting in the over expenditure of the overall budget. The over expenditure was therefore mainly attributed to Compensation of Employees which was mitigated by under spending on non-personnel items, including infrastructure and conditional grants. It was further reported that the Provincial Department continued to appoint personnel without the budget which resulted in a cost pressure of R421 million in May 2012. In light of this, the appointment authorization function of the Provincial Department has been taken over by the Provincial Treasury.