Zuma’s office denies presidency is increasing staff

The Presidency on Thursday dismissed reports stating that its staff complement was ballooning were “grossly incorrect and misleading”.

“It would appear that the media is confusing the department of performance monitoring and evaluation (DPME) with the presidency, which is the office of the president. The DPME is not a component of the presidency,” spokesman Bongani Majola said in a statement.

“It (the DPME) is a standalone independent department with its own executive authority, Minister Jeff Radebe, its own administration, accounting officer and budget vote,” he clarified.

Majola said the Presidency, which also supports the office of the Deputy President would not be increasing staff.

“The presidency will not be increasing its staff complement at all. It will abide by the cost-cutting measures in full as announced by the president and the minister of finance,” said Majola.

“It is common for some journalists to confuse DPME with the presidency because Minister Radebe is minister in the presidency. Minister Radebe runs a full independent ministry like all other ministers. He has two departments reporting to him, namely the DPME and Statistics SA.”

– African News Agency (ANA)