KZN finance MEC says education department could be losing R1 billion annually to ghost workers
Image: KZN Legislature
KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Francois Rodgers has launched a province-wide headcount to root out ghost workers, nonexistent employees who continue to draw salaries, costing the Department of Education an estimated R1 billion each year.
In an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, Rodgers said some teachers who had resigned, been dismissed or passed away were still receiving monthly payments.
"Under the Department of Education, for some years now, a repeat finding is what we refer to as staff loans. Now, this is not teachers who go and take loans from the department, but it's teachers who, for whatever reason, exit the system," Rodgers said.
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"They might pass away, they might resign, they might be dismissed, but they continue to receive remuneration, and it runs into hundreds of millions of rands, and this is ongoing. Now, the other challenge that we've picked up is ghost teachers, and this is where we're starting, with the Department of Education"
Rodgers added that the problem could be costing the department around R1 billion per year.
"Having a discussion with the MEC of Education, we would estimate that we're looking at about a billion rand per annum that could possibly be being swindled out of the Department of Education.
"And that's why it's critically important for us now to undertake this assessment, and to make it an independent assessment, allow Treasury to take control with the Department of Education and do this particular assessment"
Rodgers said the headcount would not be a simple manual exercise, but would make use of technology, including artificial intelligence, to verify the identity of government employees.
"The manner in which we're going to do it is going to be not just a simple headcount, but it's going to be using new technology, IT linked with AI, and then comparing that to our PERSAL records, which is our personnel records,' he explained.
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
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