/ 19 November 2017

Treasury budget chief Michael Sachs to join Gauteng government

Sachs has worked at the national treasury for around 10 years.
Sachs has worked at the national treasury for around 10 years.

National Treasury’s deputy head of budget, Michael Sachs, has accepted an offer to join the Gauteng provincial government, less than a week after Treasury confirmed that he had resigned.

Sachs will join the Office of the Premier as the deputy director general responsible for performance monitoring and evaluation.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has requested Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba to facilitate the lateral transfer of Sachs to the Gauteng provincial government.

“I would like to use the skills of Michael Sachs to immediately help to stabilise the finances of the Gauteng Department of Health, which poses a major risk at the moment,” said Gauteng Premier David Makhura.

READ MORE: Three Gauteng departments in hot water as Life Esidimeni web gets ever more tangled

“He will thereafter focus on monitoring and fast-tracking spending on infrastructure budgets of the Gauteng departments and municipalities.”

Sachs holds two masters degrees from the University of London as well as the Kennedy School of Government, in Public Administration and Economics.

He started his public sector career in the Gauteng provincial government in the health department in 1994 and also worked as a programme director in the office of the then leader of the House in the Gauteng provincial legislature. Sachs has been with the National Treasury in various positions since 2008.

“Sachs brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge in policy making, public finance, macro-economic policy, policy evaluation and international best practice in policy implementation,” said spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane.

She added that Gigaba has confirmed that he is attending to the premier’s request for the transfer.

News24