Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has committed National Treasury to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the public sector wage bill this year after a 2014 study by the organisation found that most public sector workers were in the top 30% of national wage earners.

Looking to “tighten control” over the public sector wage bill, the 2015 National Budget Review document, released on Wednesday, outlined that the investigation would build on earlier research undertaken by the Department of Public Service and Administration, which found that, between 2006/7 and 2010/11, national and provincial personnel expenditure grew by over 15% a year, despite little evidence of a corresponding improvement in service delivery, or what in the private sector would be referred to as productivity.

The department’s 2011 ‘Personnel Expenditure Review’ also found that there were more than 350 salary scales and over 500 different allowances, leading to administrative complexity and providing opportunities for irregular remunerative practices.

Moreover, between 2007/8 and 2010/11, total local government personnel spending increased by a staggering 60%, from R27.3-billion to R43.6-billion.

“Typically, higher-income earners experience inflation in line with or slightly below consumer price index (CPI) inflation. Yet wage demands [in the public sector] remain in excess of CPI inflation,” the review read.

The budget did, however, reveal that some gains had been made in dampening growing public sector employee numbers.

Between 2009 and 2014, headcount growth fell to 1.3% a year, while real compensation growth fell from 9% in 2010/11 to 2% in 2013/14.

Shortly thereafter, government announced in its 2014 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in October that it would institute a freeze on personnel headcounts for 2015/16 and 2016/17, with any additional personnel paid for from existing allocations.

“Public sector salary negotiations are under way. A multiyear agreement that protects public servants’ purchasing power would allow for a stable, predictable wage bill and reprioritisation of resources towards areas of need,” read the 2015 National Budget Review document.

Nene added during a prebudget media briefing in Cape Town that government would try to find a “middle ground” with employees to avoid a potentially debilitating public sector strike.

He further appealed to government entities to moderate headcounts and employ staff in their core competency. Healthcare facilities were, for example, encouraged to increase the employment rates of nurses and doctors rather than administrative staff.