One South African province uses nearly 65% of its budget on salaries
The province that allocates the smallest share of its overall spending to employee salaries is the Western Cape.
New financial statistics from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reveal that provincial governments across South Africa collectively spent a staggering R450 501 million on employee salaries during the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
While this expense category remains the largest proportion of total operating cash flows nationwide, one province stands out for allocating the highest percentage of its overall expenditure specifically to paying staff.
The province dedicating the largest slice of its entire budget to salaries is the Eastern Cape. Out of its total expenditure of R92 062 million for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the Eastern Cape spent R59 774 million on compensation of employees.
This means that nearly 64.93% of the Eastern Cape provincial government’s money goes directly towards employee salaries, reflecting an immense investment in its workforce.
This high proportional spending is likely driven by the critical functional services provinces are tasked with delivering, such as education and health, which together account for 75.6% of total provincial expenditure across the country. Maintaining the massive workforce required for these sectors necessitates significant compensation outlays.
South Africa salaries: How do other provincial governments compare?
Following the Eastern Cape closely in proportional terms is Limpopo, which allocated R52 080 million to employee compensation out of R80 890 million total expenditure. The Free State government also dedicates a high proportion of its budget, spending R27 292 million on salaries out of R42 891 million total expenditure.
Even KwaZulu-Natal, which reported the highest absolute spend on compensation at R95 189 million, dedicated 63.07% of its total R150 932 million expenditure to salaries.
In stark contrast, the province that allocates the smallest share of its overall spending to employee compensation is the Western Cape. The Western Cape spent R43 801 million on compensation out of a R81 097 million total budget, equating to roughly 54.01%.
The Northern Cape had the lowest overall spend (R12 114 million), equating to about 55.70% of its total expenditure.