Labour Dept slated for budget cuts

THE Department of Employment and Labour came under fire yesterday for budget cuts which will see entities such as the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) bear the brunt.

Parties decried the budget cuts at the time, as there was a high rate of unemployment during the economic meltdown, as well as delays in instituting disciplinary hearings against corrupt officials implicated in the Temporary Employer/Employee Scheme (Ters).

Tabling his budget vote, Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi said the budget for his department has been reduced in 2021/22 by R351 million to R3.5 billion.

“The major reductions made by the department are: R213m from compensation of employees and R8.5m on goods and services, and budgets across the entities were reduced by R102m,” Nxesi said. He told MPs that budget cuts came as his department underspent the budget by 6%, and met its performance targets by 51% in the past financial year.

Nxesi said the Covid-19 Ters, which started paying out from April 2020, would strengthen the normal Ters to give relief to struggling businesses so as to save jobs.

DA MP Michael Cardo said the department’s budget did nothing to help oil the wheels of job creation.