With reference to the reply of the Minister of Public Service and Administration to question 2809 on 2 October 2017 and the announcement during the Budget Vote Speech on 24 February 2016 by the former Minister of Finance, Mr Pravin Gordhan, in which South Africans were informed that the Government will cut its wage bill by R25 billion over three years, (a) how does the total wage bill of the 2016-17 financial year compare to the 2015-16 financial year, (b) how does the first six months of the 2017-18 financial year compare with the first six months of the 2016-17 financial year and (c) what savings in the wage bill have been achieved due to austerity measures since this announcement for each financial year or part of it to date;
(2) whether the Government is still on track in achieving its R25 billion savings on the wage bill in the specified period; if not, (a) why not and (b) what steps will he take to ensure that the targeted savings are achieved; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) what percentage of the Government’s total expenditure for the 2017-18 financial year was allocated to wages?