Latest news with #PortfolioCommitteeonPublicServiceandAdministration
IOL News
2 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
The ghost worker scandal: A systemic corruption issue in public service
Mr Jan de Villiers, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration during a briefing by the Governance Cluster Oversight Committees on Monday. Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan de Villiers, said the persistent and corrosive problem of ghost workers in the public sector is not merely a payroll anomaly, but a 'deliberate and orchestrated form of systemic corruption'. De Villiers was part of the three chairpersons of the parliamentary Governance Cluster Oversight committees who held a briefing as part of the 7th Parliament's regular Committee Cluster Media Engagement programme on Monday. He said the true scope of ghost workers is not known, and an investigation into the problem is part of a joint audit now under way between the Department of Public Service and Administration and the National Treasury. 'Let us be clear, the phenomenon of ghost workers is not an issue of administrative error. 'The Department of Public Service and Administration confirmed before Parliament that ghost workers are present across all three spheres of government, affecting national and provincial departments, municipalities, agencies, and state-owned entities alike. 'For example, last year, the Auditor-General (AG) uncovered R6.4 million in salaries being paid to ghost workers at the Mpumalanga Department of Education. In May this year, the Gauteng health department froze the salaries of 230 employees who could not be verified,' De Villiers said. He added that the data-driven approach of the joint audit represents a departure from the fragmented, ad hoc audits of the past. He said they are also calling for this process to begin with a physical, in-person human verification audit of all government employees underpinned by mandatory biometric identification. 'Every person drawing a public salary must appear in person and be verified. The public has the right to know that the names on the payroll correspond to individuals who exist, who work, and who serve. 'We mustn't fool ourselves, the people behind the creation of ghost workers are syndicates - they are criminal organisations within the state. They work together. These aren't rogue individuals just taking the chance, it is a symptom of corruption within the state that is highly organised.' Cape Argus
Daily Maverick
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
‘Real people drawing fraudulent salaries' — crackdown looms on public sector ghost employees
It's time to end this 'orchestrated form of systemic corruption' draining state resources, says the chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration. Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration says public sector workers should report in person to prove they're not ghost employees. 'A data audit alone is not enough. We are calling on this process to begin with physical in-person human verification audits for all government employees underpinned by biometric identification. Every person drawing a public salary must appear in person and be verified,' said committee chairperson Jan de Villiers (Democratic Alliance) in a governance cluster press conference in Parliament on Monday. 'The public has the right to know the names on the payroll correspond to individuals who really exist and who serve the public.' Read more: Ghost employees who haunt payrolls are a major occupational fraud hazard Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, in his Budget tabled last month, announced sweeping expenditure reviews of more than R300-billion in government spending since 2013, 'with the aim of identifying duplications, waste and inefficiencies'. Godongwana said the data-driven initiative would cross-reference administrative datasets to 'identify ghost workers and other anomalies across government departments'. De Villiers said the portfolio committee, following Godongwana's announcement in his Budget, had convened on 28 May to interrogate the 'persistent and deeply corrosive problem' of ghost workers in the public sector. He said the National Treasury could not tackle this challenge alone — it required a joint, coordinated strategy, which was now under way between the Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA). 'We will reconvene with the Department of Public Service and Administration and the National Treasury in the third quarter of 2025 to receive a full progress report on the implementation of the joint ghost worker audit strategy. This should include details on the scope of these audits, preliminary findings and proposed enforcement measures,' said De Villiers. 'Orchestrated form of systemic corruption' Ghost employee fraud is among South Africa's most persistent public sector challenges. However, the total number of ghost workers — individuals who are fraudulently added to an organisation's payroll but do not actually work there — is unclear. In 2021, the government launched Project Ziveze to investigate and verify all Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) employees after material irregularities were uncovered within Prasa's ICT and payroll systems, indicating that there could be about 3,000 phantom workers. A preliminary report in November 2022 revealed that 1,480 employees could not be verified, while 1,000 others had resigned, Daily Maverick's Suné Payne reported. The agency is estimated to have saved about R200-million through the verification project. Last year, the Auditor-General of South Africa uncovered R6.4-million being paid to 'deceased and terminated' employees. The Public Servants Association (PSA) described this as a 'shocking misuse of public funds' and a 'gross violation of financial accountability'. And in May 2025, the Sunday Times reported that the Gauteng Department of Health had frozen the salaries of 230 employees who could not be verified. These are a handful of the reported cases of ghost employees. 'These are not invisible names on paper. Real people are drawing fraudulent salaries, and fraudulent money is being siphoned into the pockets of corrupt criminals,' said De Villiers. He said the department had disclosed that inserting a ghost employee into the payroll system 'requires collusion because at least three officials need to work together to create a ghost worker. This means that we are dealing not with random lapses in judgment, but with embedded criminal syndicates operating in our public institutions.' He added that the issue of ghost workers was 'not merely a payroll anomaly. It is a deliberate and orchestrated form of systemic corruption. It is organised crime within the state. And as a portfolio committee, tasked with oversight in the public service, the time for half-measures and talk shops is over. 'Let us be clear, the phenomenon of ghost workers is not an issue of administrative error. There are real people creating these ghost workers, reaping the benefits of siphoning taxpayer money into their coffers. 'Every ghost worker represents a post that could've been filled by a qualified graduate, a dedicated nurse, a teacher at a rural school or a social worker supporting the vulnerable. Every fraudulent salary paid is a step backwards in the fight for a professional, ethical and responsive state.' Widespread phenomenon De Villiers did not know how many ghost workers there were in the public service, but suggested, when looking at the known instances of ghost employees, 'that there are thousands'. He said the DPSA had confirmed before Parliament that ghost workers were present across all three spheres of government, including national, provincial and local governments, as well as government agencies and state-owned enterprises. 'The reality is every single department, state agency, level of government and state-owned enterprise that we have, probably has ghost workers on their payroll.' PSA spokesperson Reuben Maleka told Daily Maverick on Monday that the organisation supported a physical audit of ghost workers who 'rob' the public sector of its capacity to provide services to the public. 'The problem is widespread throughout the public sector — government departments, municipalities [and] government entities. The cleaning must happen across the sector,' said Maleka. In addition to calling for a physical audit, De Villiers said the committee would 'push for disciplinary and criminal action to follow every detection of ghost workers. 'We don't know how many ghost workers there are, we don't know who's involved, and not enough people have been arrested so far, to be quite frank. 'I am not aware, as committee chairperson, of a single person who has been arrested thus far in terms of the creation of ghost workers,' he said. De Villiers added that South Africa's ghost worker phenomenon was not only made possible by fraud, but by 'outdated and fragmented administrative processes and systems'. Daily Maverick contacted the National Treasury and the DPSA with queries. Comment will be added once received. DM
IOL News
2 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Parliament hearing told that audit crisis in municipalities 'linked to political leadership failures'
Left to right: Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Auditor-General, Wouter Wessels, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Zweli Mkhize, and chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan de Villiers. Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Media Dr Zweli Mkhize said that the latest audit outcomes presented by the Auditor-General have shown that the financial and governance crisis in municipalities across the country is deepening, and has dire consequences for service delivery and public trust. Mkhize, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), was discussing the local government 2023/24 audit outcomes during the briefing held by the parliamentary Governance Cluster Oversight committees on Monday. Mkhize was joined by chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan de Villiers, and chairperson of the Standing Committee on Auditor-General, Wouter Wessels. The briefing comes after Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke found that only 41 municipalities obtained clean audits in the 2023/24 financial year. Maluleke tabled the 2023/24 general report on the local government audit outcomes in Parliament almost two weeks ago. 'While 59 municipalities have improved their audit outcomes since 2020/21 (the last year of the previous administration), 40 have regressed,' Maluleke said. The AG's report also showed that 113 municipalities operated with unfunded budgets and 285 material irregularities with an estimated financial loss amounting to R8.7 billion were identified. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Mkhize said that the integrity and functionality of local government are under immense strain. He said it was unacceptable that, despite municipalities having spent over R1.4 billion on having consultants prepare their financial statements, 59% of those submitted for auditing contained material misstatements. 'It is unacceptable that such exorbitant spending yields so little value. Even more troubling is that many of these municipalities already have permanent staff tasked with performing this work. What we are seeing is not just waste but a failure of systems, leadership and accountability in too many of our municipalities.' He said that the 113 municipalities currently operating on unfunded budgets are planning expenditures far beyond what they can credibly finance, and that this extreme recklessness. 'It amounts to planning for failure. It undermines infrastructure delivery, which has been identified as a key lever for economic recovery and job creation, and contributes to poor project execution, delays, cost overruns, and, in many cases, substandard workmanship,' Mkhize said. 'As a committee, we believe that the shortage of financial skills at the local government level is at a crisis point. This is not merely a technical shortfall, but it strikes at the heart of municipal functionality and the government's ability to deliver services where they are needed most.' He said poor audit outcomes are often rooted in failures of political leadership, weak consequence management and a culture of impunity. Chair of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Zweli Mkhize. Image: Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Media Mkhize said the failure by almost 85% of municipalities to meet even the most basic governance standards directly affects communities in areas such as sanitation, roads, housing, and other essential services. 'In parallel, we must urgently tackle issues of procurement irregularities, corruption and fraud. The use of uncompetitive and unfair supply chain processes continues unabated, as is evident from the AG's report. It is alarming that municipalities continue to award contracts to individuals employed in other spheres of government, despite explicit prohibitions in law.' He explained that Parliament, through the Portfolio Committee on COGTA, will systematically intensify our oversight visits, focusing on the worst-performing municipalities per province and working closely with the executive at all levels to reverse this trajectory. 'As I said before, the committee is no longer interested in excuses. We are calling for performance, consequences, and the prioritisation of quality service delivery to our people.'
IOL News
2 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
Ghost workers are a 'deliberate and orchestrated form of systemic corruption'
Jan de Villiers, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration during a briefing by the Governance Cluster Oversight Committees on Monday. Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Media Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan de Villiers said that the persistent and corrosive problem of ghost workers in the public sector is not merely a payroll anomaly, but a 'deliberate and orchestrated form of systemic corruption'. De Villiers was part of the three chairpersons of the parliamentary Governance Cluster Oversight committees who held a briefing as part of the 7th Parliament's regular Committee Cluster Media Engagement programme on Monday. He said that the true scope of ghost workers is not truly known, and an investigation into this problem is part of a joint audit now underway between the Department of Public Service and Administration and the National Treasury. When tabling his budget, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that government had set its sights on conducting headcounts in the civil service to root out ghost-workers, as one of the initiatives. Earlier this year, Northdale Hospital in Pietermaritzburg identified more than 120 ghost health workers, while the Msunduzi Municipality had discovered over 100 on its payroll. In Gauteng, the provincial health department is also conducting a similar audit and has frozen the salaries of 66 suspected ghost workers to date. De Villiers said that as a portfolio committee tasked with oversight of the public service, 'the time for half-measures and talk-shops is over'. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading 'Let us be clear, the phenomenon of ghost workers is not an issue of administrative error. 'The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) confirmed before Parliament that ghost workers are present across all three spheres of government, affecting national and provincial departments, municipalities, agencies, and state-owned entities alike. 'For example, last year, the Auditor-General (AG) uncovered R6.4 million in salaries being paid to ghost workers at the Mpumalanga Department of Education. In May this year, the Gauteng health department froze the salaries of 230 employees who could not be verified,' De Villiers said. 'These are not invisible names on paper. Real people are drawing fraudulent salaries, and real taxpayer money is being siphoned into private pockets under the guise of legitimate employment. The DPSA has disclosed that inserting a ghost worker into the public payroll system requires collusion between at least three internal officials. This means we are dealing not with random lapses in judgment but with embedded criminal syndicates operating in our public institutions.' Mr Jan de Villiers, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration during a briefing by the Governance Cluster Oversight Committees on Monday. Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Media He added that the data-driven approach of the joint audit represents a departure from the fragmented, ad hoc audits of the past. He added that they are also calling for this process to begin with a physical, in-person human verification audit of all government employees underpinned by mandatory biometric identification. 'Every person drawing a public salary must appear in person and be verified. The public has the right to know that the names on the payroll correspond to individuals who exist, who work, and who serve.' 'We mustn't fool ourselves, the people behind the creation of ghost workers are syndicates - they are criminal organisations within the state. They work together. These aren't rogue individuals just taking the chance, it is a symptom of corruption within the state that is highly organised.' He said that the whole purpose of the joint audit is to establish the seriousness, the scope and also the action plan to deal with ghost workers. De Villiers explained that they will reconvene with the DPSA and National Treasury in the third quarter of 2025 to receive a full progress report on the implementation of the joint ghost worker audit strategy. The committee will also call on the Auditor-General of South Africa to expand its scope, requiring that all department and entity audits include verification of whether internal ghost employee audits have been conducted and if they were done credibly. They will also push for disciplinary and criminal action to follow.
IOL News
7 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
South African public servants, aged 35 and under face career growth barriers
There are 347,000 public servants aged 35 and younger in South Africa but systemic barriers are blocking their career growth. Image: Pexels More than 347,000 public servants, aged between 31 and 35, are employed in South Africa's public service, accounting for 27% of the government workforce but systemic issues are blocking their long-term career growth. This emerged during a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration on Tuesday. The committee heard from the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Public Service Commission (PSC) as part of Youth Month engagements focused on strengthening youth development in the state. While the department noted the significant representation of younger people in administrative, finance, supply chain, and technical roles, with women forming the majority, the committee raised alarm over the low absorption of interns and short-term placements that offer little in terms of skills recognition or career advancement. "Short-term placements without certification or skills recognition do not constitute meaningful empowerment,' the committee noted. A major concern raised was the budget constraints that limit the creation of posts for youth, and the practice of assigning interns to unrelated, menial tasks with little supervision. Committee members also flagged nepotism in placements and the lack of formal exit interviews to assess programme impact. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading To address these challenges, the department is developing a policy to introduce a voluntary early retirement scheme. This would allow older public servants to leave without financial penalties, thereby creating space for younger recruits. The department will also enforce youth hiring targets in departmental performance plans and scale up partnerships. Committee chairperson, Jan de Villiers, said, "Today's presentations reflected the dual importance of efficient leave management and purposeful youth development; it is not just about employing young people; it is about creating developmental pathways for them to grow within the public sector." The committee also scrutinised the PSC's report on leave utilisation from 2020 to 2023. It revealed that capped leave, days that accrued before July 2000 now stands as a R16 billion liability, mostly within the health and education sectors. The PSC warned this liability will continue to grow due to inflation and salary increases. Members also raised concerns about high levels of sick and incapacity leave and unequal access to study leave, with senior managers often benefiting more than lower-level staff such as cleaners and clerical workers. They called for improved transparency in recruitment and leave oversight, and better demographic data to inform workforce planning. THE MERCURY
