Government officials and senior executives in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and constitutional bodies will from September 1, 2024 have to justify their expenditure on hiring consultants, hosting and attending local and international conferences, as well as travel and subsistence.
National Treasury yesterday published the revised cost-containment measures directed to accounting officers in all government departments, constitutional institutions, and public entities as per schedules 2 and 3 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
This comes as the public finances continue to deteriorate, with the national government having spent R2.04 trillion in the 2022/23 financial year, representing a rise of 6.1% from R1.92trln the previous year, with more than half of total expenses allocated to grants paid to other levels of government, institutions, and foreign governments.
Treasury said accounting officers and accounting authorities must implement control measures to ensure that all expenditure in their institutions is necessary, appropriate, cost-effective, recorded, and reported.
An accounting officer and accounting authority must ensure that all employees are mindful of the current economic realities and they need to intensify efforts to improve efficiency in spending by reducing non-essential expenditure, Treasury said.
