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The Citizen
6 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
More than R140 million in salaries paid to suspended government employees
National departments paid nearly R51 million to suspended government employees, while provincial departments spent more than R90 million in the 2024/25 financial year. Government has paid more than R140 million in salaries to employees who have been placed on precautionary suspension during the 2024/25 financial year. This is according to public Service and Administration Minister Mzamo Buthelezi, who was accounting to the National Assembly during the Governance Cluster question and answer session on Wednesday. Buthelezi said as of the end of the fourth quarter of the 2024/25 financial year, national departments paid R50 945 064 to the suspended employees while provincial departments spent R90 469 562. The minister was responding to Al Jama-ah member of parliament (MP) Shameemah Salie, who had asked what the current estimated total cost of ghost employees and suspended employees on the payroll of government was. Ghost employee audit still incomplete Salie also asked what work had been done prior to the Budget Speech to recover funds lost from paying fraudulent salaries. Buthelezi said the total cost associated with ghost workers had not yet been determined. 'This cost will only become known once a comprehensive employee verification process across public service has been completed and the financial implications accurately calculated,' he said. 'However, the Department of Public Service and Administration and National Treasury are jointly leading this exercise, and once the report is finalised it will be shared with the relevant parliamentary committee and this house.' Salie further said the issue of ghost workers had been an ongoing battle for decades and had resulted in millions being lost per yearly. ALSO READ: Gauteng health freezes 66 salaries in ghost employee crackdown 'We urge the minister and all relevant departments to ensure an audit across government and to provide frequent feedback on findings surrounding ghost workers, prosecution of and recovery of funds from these entities,' Salie sad. Buthelezi defends 'bloated' public service wage bill ANC MP Pumelele Ndamase asked what the overall impact of ghost workers was, in which departments they were mostly found and whether Buthelezi's department is actually aware of how ghost employees end up being in the employ of the state. The public service is often accused of being bloated, Ndamase said, while simultaneously struggling to meet the demand of South Africans. In response, the minister said while it is widely believed that the public service wage bill is too high, the department has a different view. 'We do have many vacant posts in the department and many departments who are struggling to even employ because they have a shortage of staff members, because the government cannot afford to pay their salaries,' Buthelezi said. 'So, the issue of a bloated public service wage bill is not necessarily the case, but we do appreciate the fact that we view that as such because our economy is not growing at the rate that it should.' He said the challenges of the country's stagnant economic growth had a bearing on the expenditure where public employees are concerned. Thorough investigation With regard to the departments affected by ghost employees, Buthelezi repeated that there were currently no statistics, but the department is engaged in a thorough investigation. Before posing his question, Rise Mzansi's Stanford Makashule Gana Minister said the 'ghost employees' should be referred to appropriately – public servants who 'give themselves more than one salary'. ALSO READ: R6 million in salaries paid to ghost workers in Mpumalanga 'Trigger-happy managers' Gana finally asked if the Buthelezi's department is considering attaching cost orders to managers who are trigger happy and quick to suspend public servants who don't deserve to be suspended. 'As a department, when it comes to managers who simply suspend employees willy-nilly, we have come up with a directive that says whenever there is an employee that is alleged to have committed a particular offence, instead of suspending that person and continuously get a salary, that person must be transferred to another department or unit,' Buthelezi responded. He said he was not aware of public servants earning more than one salary and that the department is putting systems in place to curb wastage. Redundancy audit Heloise Denner, FF Plus MP, asked if the department had considered or assessed the feasibility of implementing an audit to identify redundant posts within the public service in order to reduce costs. In response, the minister said the department is already putting systems in place to deal with redundancy. He said that the departments need to first consult the Department of Public Services and Administration whenever there's a post to fill. '[This is so that] we look into whether or not there is a need for that particular post or if it means they redefine their organogram,' Buthelezi said. '[They must] also consult with National Treasury to see that there are funds available so that we prevent departments from employing people for posts which do not add any value into the system,' he added. NOW READ: 'It's a scam': Mbalula says Prasa's ghost workers saga to be referred for criminal investigations
The Citizen
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
SA's expanding safety net: Millions more to receive social grants by 2030
'One of the commitments in the National Development Plan Vision 2030 is to eradicate food poverty by 2030,' stated Hendricks. Al Jama-ah's Ganief Hendricks at the 2024 state of the nation address (Sona) at Cape Town City Hall on 8 February 2024. Picture: Gallo Images/Ziyaad Douglas South Africa is set to significantly expand its social welfare system over the coming years, with ambitious targets to increase coverage across multiple vulnerable groups. The Department of Social Development has announced plans to extend older persons' grants to 5.4 million beneficiaries by the end of the five-year term in 2030, up from a mid-term target of 5 million by 2027-2028. Similarly, child support grants are projected to reach 14.1 million children by 2030, while disability grants aim to support more than 1.1 million people by the same year. Department unveils strategic plan amid budget constraints The department recently unveiled its strategic plan for 2025-2030 and annual performance plan for 2025-2026, with a focus on poverty reduction, empowering resilient communities, and creating an integrated social development sector. These plans align with national development priorities while acknowledging that the department must 'do more with less' due to budget constraints. 'The strategic priorities of the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) are to reduce levels of poverty and vulnerability to social ills, empower resilient individuals, families and sustainable communities, and create a functional, efficient and integrated sector,' explained a department representative during the presentation. The MTDP, which serves as an implementation framework for the National Development Plan (NDP), focuses on three key strategic priorities: inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living, and creating a capable, ethical, and developmental state. ALSO READ: New ID verification process for Sassa grants: Here's who's affected Understanding the planning framework The department operates within multiple planning timeframes that work together. The strategic plan covers a five-year period, while the annual performance plan addresses the immediate fiscal year ending in March 2026. The Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is a three-year rolling budget planning tool used by the National Treasury to allocate resources based on priorities and fiscal constraints. The NDP Vision 2030 serves as South Africa's long-term socio-economic development roadmap for the period up to 2030. Meanwhile, the MTDP serves as an implementation framework for the NDP, typically spanning 3–5 years and encompassing specific targets and commitments. This multi-layered approach allows the department to balance immediate fiscal realities with longer-term development goals while maintaining alignment with national priorities. Historic legislation on the horizon Deputy Minister of Social Development, Ganief Hendricks, told the portfolio committee that a policy on social development would be presented to Cabinet by October. Hendricks emphasised the historic significance of such legislation, noting that '30 years in our democracy, South Africa will have an Act of Parliament for social development'. The push for legislative reform extends beyond the department itself, with calls from various sectors for specialised legislation. 'There have also been calls from the disability sector for their own Act of Parliament to give them the power that they need,' the deputy minister explained. The Central Drug Authority has also requested legislation to address substance abuse, which Hendricks characterised as 'becoming a threat to state security'. ALSO READ: Sassa confirms Old Age Grant will not be cancelled Ambitious vision for poverty eradication by 2030 The department has identified reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living as key priorities, directly aligned with the broader strategic focus areas of the Government of National Unity (GNU) formed after the May 2024 elections. 'One of the commitments in the National Development Plan Vision 2030 is to eradicate food poverty by 2030,' stated Hendricks. He outlined a vision where, by 2030, 'those who don't earn or work will get a guaranteed R760, but I believe R1,000 in their pocket every month.' This commitment, according to Hendricks, would 'send waves throughout the world that South Africa does care about the most vulnerable people.' With 28 million social grant beneficiaries, the department faces significant challenges in improving support. 'We have to do something to increase their food basket,' Hendricks explained, though he acknowledged that immediate increases would be more modest than hoped: 'Unfortunately, it looks like instead of a R150 increase, they're only going to get R120.' ALSO READ: Defence alleges witness interference in Sassa fraud case Nine portfolio commitments to address social challenges The department has identified nine portfolio commitments aligned with the MTDP, reflecting a more focused approach as the 2030 deadline approaches. 'I think the message is that as we move towards Vision 2030, we need to begin to cut the cloth according to size. We need to begin to reprioritise and not attempt to do everything,' a department representative stated. Key commitments include increasing access to nutritious food for vulnerable individuals, with mid-term targets of reaching 1.5 million people through food security programs by 2027-2028, and optimising social protection within available fiscal resources. Addressing substance abuse and Gender-Based Violence The department continues to implement the National Drug Master Plan with targets to help over 135,000 service users access substance abuse disorder treatment by mid-term (2027-2028), and nearly 273,000 by term end (2030). For gender-based violence, the department aims to provide psychosocial services to 224,549 victims by mid-term and 449,048 by the end of the term in 2030. 'We also have the intervention as part of the MTDP commitment to link social assistance with other forms of support to lift people out of poverty, so that our people don't only depend on social grants alone,' the department added. ALSO READ: A R1 billion U-turn: Scrapping the VAT increase leaves no winners, just absolute chaos Moving beyond social grant dependency Both Hendricks and the newly appointed Director-General, Fhumulani Peter Netshipale, emphasised the need to transition beneficiaries from dependence on social grants to sustainable livelihoods. 'The National Development Agency is expected to create sustainable livelihoods so that people rapidly move from social grants into sustainable livelihoods,' Hendricks explained. He added that the department was receiving pressure from Treasury, questioning it about its plans and actions for poverty alleviation. The department's poverty alleviation strategy targets 1.4 million households accessing sustainable livelihood initiatives by mid-term (2027-2028), expanding to 2.9 million by the end of the term in 2030. Enhanced monitoring and provincial oversight A key focus for the department going forward will be strengthened monitoring of service delivery at the provincial level. 'Most of the time we used to come here, and you say what is happening in North West, but we are now called to make sure that we monitor services through all nine provinces,' Netshipale explained. 'The department needs to step up its own approach to strengthen the monitoring of services and report here in terms of what is happening in terms of the baselines that we have set.' This represents a shift toward greater accountability. 'We will be accountable to this committee time and again in terms of what we have delivered,' added Netshipale. Despite the significant role social grants play in alleviating poverty—currently supporting 45% of the nation—Committee Chairperson Bridget Masango expressed concern about what she termed 'dignity poverty,' particularly for young people living on the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, a temporary assistance program for those in immediate need. 'If you have young people as young as 35 years old and younger or older living on the SRD, that is not dignified at all,' Masango stated. ALSO READ: Who really won the VAT fight? GNU shakes as parties cry 'deception' Budget allocations and constraints The department's budget presentation revealed that while there were no major budget cuts for the MTEF period as in previous years, there were also no significant increases, requiring careful resource management. 'There were no nasty surprises, luckily for the MTEF period, as we had in the previous years, where there were budget cuts, but we were also not favourable in terms of the operations of the budget,' the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Fanie Esterhuizen, explained. The base year 2025/26 budget allocation of R294 billion includes funding for the Social Relief of Distress grant, which is only allocated for one financial year, explaining the drop in the 2026/27 fiscal year allocation. A significant budget challenge is that the department had to fund the 5.5% cost-of-living increase for public servants from its existing operational budget, reducing goods and services allocations. 'In the past, three years ago, National Treasury would grant us this amount. But any increases now have to come from our baseline, and the only place we could take it from was from goods and services,' Esterhuizen stated. NOW READ: VAT to remain at 15%, hike reversed, Treasury announces
