DA Delivery Daily Fact #23: DA municipalities spend less money on unnecessary staff and more money on service delivery

Lindiwe Mazibuko, DA National Spokesperson
5 May 2011

In those municipalities where the DA governs, we have reduced the amount spent on staff as a percentage of total expenditure by cutting back on inefficiencies and unnecessary positions. Less money on unnecessary staff means more money available for infrastructure maintenance and service delivery.

The Evidence: Efficiency and sustainability are two essential preconditions for effective service delivery. If infrastructure is to be maintained over time, there has to be efficiency in the collection of rates and carrying out of maintenance. One of the more useful measures of efficiency is the ratio of staff costs to overall expenditure. Ideally, municipalities should keep staff costs as low as possible, and service and infrastructure expenditure as high as possible. The DA aims to keep staff expenditure to between one-quarter and one-third of a municipality’s total expenditure. By doing this it helps to ensure that enough funds are available to help deliver services to people, especially the poor. Generally, as a result of the inefficiencies of previous administrations, this has meant cutting out unnecessary positions and saving money. For example, in Baviaans, in the Eastern Cape, 55% of total expenditure was spent on staff costs in 2005/06. By 2010/11, the DA-led administration had reduced that to 38%. The same thing has happened in a number of other DA-led municipalities. In Midvaal, the DA reduced staff expenditure from 33% of total expenditure in 2005/06 to 28% in 2010/11; in Mossel Bay, from in excess of 30% in 2005/06 to 28% in 2010/11; and in Overstrand, from 36% in 2005/06 to just 26% in 2010/11. Every one of these efficiencies has resulted in better service delivery. Not only is more money available but because the DA has focused on getting the right people in the right positions, our municipalities are able to do more with less.

Related Documents

• A Track Record of Delivery for All
• Midvaal Factsheet
• Overstrand Factsheet
• Mossel Bay Factsheet
• Baviaans Factsheet