The Foundation for Rights of Expression and Equality (Free SA) today announced a nationwide mobilisation to halt the Public Service Insourcing Bill (B19-2025). The draft legislation, now before Parliament, would compel every organ of state to absorb a wide range of functions in-house, including security, cleaning, information technology, transport, auditing, and catering, while permitting outsourcing only in exceptionally narrow circumstances.
The proposed law would inflate the wage bill, devastate small businesses, and derail already-strained public services
Free SA spokesperson Reuben Coetzer warned that the Bill “will push an already unaffordable public-service wage bill far beyond its current 10.4 percent of GDP, starving schools, clinics, and social programmes of desperately-needed funds. At the same time it will wipe out thousands of small and medium enterprises that depend on supplying these services, putting jobs and livelihoods on the line.”
The organisation contends that the Bill would overload departments and municipalities that are already struggling to fulfil core mandates such as electricity distribution and water provision. By forcing the state to manage every canteen, server room, and patrol shift directly, the law would drain scarce managerial capacity and erode service quality. It would also undermine professional independence by turning external auditors into government employees, weakening an essential line of accountability.
Constitutionally, Free SA argues, the measure conflicts with section 217, which demands procurement systems that are fair, equitable, transparent, competitive, and cost-effective.
“A blanket prohibition on outsourcing ignores both the letter and spirit of the Constitution, as well as best-practice guidance in the Public Finance Management Act and Municipal Finance Management Act,” Coetzer said.
Rather than nationalising whole sectors of service delivery, Free SA calls on the Portfolio Committee on Public Service & Administration to reject the Bill and pursue targeted reforms that directly address tender abuse. These include stricter enforcement of existing anti-corruption statutes and blacklisting mechanisms; robust application of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and sectoral determinations to protect workers; and a procurement framework that lets each institution choose the model, whether in-house, public-private partnership, or outsourced, that demonstrably offers the best value for citizens.
Free SA has launched an online portal enabling South Africans to file constitutionally recognised objections to the Bill in under two minutes. Users simply enter their contact details, personalise a pre-loaded comment, and click “submit.” Parliament is legally obliged to table every submission received.
“Sound governance is achieved by fixing corruption, not by crippling the service markets that millions of South Africans rely on,” Coetzer concluded. “We urge workers, entrepreneurs, and taxpayers alike to raise their voices before this misguided Bill becomes law.”
