OPINIONISTA: State wage bill symptom – not cause – of government malaise

There must be something cathartic about repackaging an old guard as constituting a new dawn. A new dawn implies a new awakening, shedding old ways and reimagining your path – or even changing course entirely. Perhaps this explains why the euphoria of the promise of a new dawn died as quickly as it arose because cold, hard reality set in.

A summary of this topic goes something like this: the state has too much debt and one of its fastest-growing line items is its wage bill. And, therefore, there have been proposals to address this through a number of schemes, including instituting wholesale retrenchments. But this is where things get a bit murky: wielding the axe indiscriminately might be a counterintuitive measure that could cause more harm than good.

By all accounts, this was a depressing episode for the world economy. And all that panic, as well as recent democratisation at the time, precipitated most of the austerity programmes undertaken by countries in Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. This wave, or phenomenon, struck mostly in the developing world, while the developed economies were able to absorb the shocks – or so the historical record shows.

It is the direct result of the populist employment practices of government desperately trying to make the unemployment figures look less embarrassing by stuffing people into non-jobs in any department with space.

South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

OPINIONISTA: Hotel industry captures the state and targets competitorsMultibillion-rand hotel groups are suffering terribly unfair competition from greedy grannies who callously let their spare rooms to supplement their pensions. Minister Derek Hanekom is bravely coming to the defence of big business by proposing new rules and restrictions on Airbnb and other short-term rental providers.
Source: dailymaverick - 🏆 3. / 84 Read more »

Transnet gets new CEOTransnet is one of the state-owned entities which were looted during the state-capture project. ...as in many months🙏🙏 Any experience in fraud, nepotism and theft? This is madness ,Popo Molefe is causing havoc in this SOE's damn..
Source: eNCA - 🏆 49. / 51 Read more »

Gupta front quashes state-owned mining company’s bid to revive OptimumThe fate of the Optimum Coal Mine is, again, caught up in a bizarre tale of intrigue after Eskom and an alleged Gupta front company combined forces to scupper a funding plan for the mine. But the mine was bought with Eskom money why don’t they just take the mine and save the taxpayers money why’re we allowing Guptas to have a say in this after everything they put us through
Source: News24 - 🏆 4. / 80 Read more »

Donald Trump accuses New York state of laying siege to gun bodyInternal disputes in the National Rifle Association have spilled into the open
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »

KZN floods: Mchunu asks national government to declare state of disasterKwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu revealed on Monday that the cost of damage caused by the recent torrential rains in the province had risen to R1.1 billion.
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

Election violence grips India’s West Bengal stateViolence mars voting in the eastern battleground state amid clashes between incumbent prime minister Narendra Modi’s BJP and regional Trinamool Congress
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »

Islamic State leader chief al-Baghdadi appears for first time in five yearsAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi says in a propaganda video that IS operations against the West are part of a ‘long battle’ and that all deaths of its members will be avenged
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »

Ramaphosa vows to act against those responsible for state capture | IOL NewsPresident Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to crack the whip on all those who were responsible for the corruption and fraud in Sars. Another wise crack? Vows and promises is all Cyril Ramaphosa can do well When ? In 2050 ?
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »

Newsdeck: Islamic State airs video purporting to be leader al-BaghdadiBy Nayera Abdallah Mahmoud and Ali Abdelaty CAIRO, April 29 (Reuters) - Islamic State's media network on Monday published a threatening video message purporting to come from its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in what would be his first appearance since declaring the jihadists' now-defunct 'caliphate' five years ago.
Source: dailymaverick - 🏆 3. / 84 Read more »

Suspected UAE spy commits suicide in Turkish prison – state mediaTurkey has delicate relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of the Arab states that imposed a blockade on Qatar, one of Ankara's close allies.
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »

State Security minister yet to see Magashule spy claimThat's because Magashule's spy claim was all about using the ANC's platforms to for FactionalFighting & garnering publicity for his own fightback campaign, and NEVER about a serious allegation!
Source: eNCA - 🏆 49. / 51 Read more »