Public sector a 'recipe for implosion'

Johannesburg - Under the African National Congress, the size of South Africa's public service has reached alarming proportions, the FF Plus said on Tuesday.

"South Africa has too large [a] public service which is not capable to effectively deliver services to the public," Freedom Front Plus chief whip Corne Mulder said in a statement.

"This is a recipe for a financial implosion if the smaller private sector cannot continue to carry the ever-increasing public service."

South Africa has 34 ministers, 33 deputy minister, 159 directors general, 642 deputy directors general, 2 501 chief directors and 7 782 directors, he said.

The figures were contained in a reply Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu gave to a question in Parliament from Mulder.

He said the government was wasting millions of rands to "keep a huge and an unwieldy public service going".

He said 40 years ago the country had 18 ministers, six deputy ministers and 18 directors general.

In the past quarter, more than 44 000 public servants have been appointed, bringing the number of public servants to 3.07 million, or 22.6% of the total labour force of South Africa, Mulder said.

ANC spokesperson Thomas Maumela said the party was studying the statement.