Latest news with #Prasa
eNCA
6 days ago
- Business
- eNCA
Explosive report into Prasa contracts
CAPE TOWN - A draft forensic report by law firm Webber Wentzel into Prasa reveals disturbing corruption at Passenger Rail. It shows how the state owned entity has been bleeding money on sub standard contracts, some of which were unnecessary and others that were never completed. WATCH | Open Secrets wants Hawks to finalise PRASA investigation findings A News24 article has detailed how Prasa was overcharged, defrauded, and exploited, with findings that some contractors over-inflated prices by 2000% . The report has also found that some trains are being repaired only to be left at depots. These repairs have already cost the entity R2.5 billion rand. Following the explosive report, ActionSA has written to the Transport Minister demanding accountability.
The Citizen
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Ghost workers drain billions from public funds
Ghost employees are being paid with taxpayer money, costing South Africa billions. This corruption must be rooted out with national audits and criminal prosecutions. The biggest problem facing public administration in South Africa – and the biggest opportunity for looters – is the lack of financial controls and even basic information on the government workforce. That is why it appears to have been a lucrative scam to create 'ghost workers' and then divert their salaries into the thieves' wallets. With a government salary bill of nearly R800 billion in this financial year – and a further R85 billion which is earmarked for employees in state-owned enterprises – the civil service is one fat cow waiting to be milked by the unscrupulous. Estimates are that there are probably tens of thousands of these bogus workers being paid like clockwork with taxpayer money… and that money, which probably runs into the billions, is what should be used for good works, development or even just to keep people from starving. The scale of the actual and possible looting is eyewatering. ALSO READ: How many ghost workers are there in government? The elimination of ghost workers at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) alone saved it R200 million. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates that ghost employees account for 8% of occupational fraud cases worldwide and experts believe this percentage could be even higher in South Africa, especially in government ranks, because of the lack of control and accountability. Other than Prasa, multiple cases of ghost workers have been revealed in sectors ranging from municipalities to government departments at provincial and national level. It is to be welcomed that President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the Special Investigating Unit to probe the ghost worker problem at Prasa… but it must go much further than that. Government directors-general must be told to audit their areas and if discrepancies are found, they must be dealt with. ALSO READ: More than R140 million in salaries paid to suspended government employees Anyone involved in these scams must be prosecuted and locked up because this is economic terrorism, plain and simple.
The Citizen
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
How many ghost workers are there in government?
There are more than two million people on the public sector payroll., and not all of them are actual people doing actual work. A single municipal education department was found to be paying ghost workers R6.4m in salaries last year. The issue is likely to poison every tier of government. Picture: AdobeStock How many public sector employees are fake? It's a question we must confront if we are to bring down public sector spending, which accounts for about a third of state spending. There's enough anecdotal evidence to raise alarms, such as the 2 143 'suspicious' employees identified at the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) in 2022, more than half of whom 'resigned' when these were investigated under Project Zivese ('Reveal yourself'), an initiative aimed at determining the total number of employees at Prasa. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has now been ordered by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate the issue of ghost workers at Prasa, among other offences – including fraudulent insurance claims and the irregular award of tenders for the supply of locomotives to Swifambo Rail Leasing. ActionSA made this a pillar of its election campaign in 2024, saying the public sector was plagued with ghost employees – the worst offenders being Prasa, the Department of Education, and the South African Police Service (SAPS). This was based on research by the party. ALSO READ: Parliamentary 'ghostbusters' target Casper – the unfriendly public service ghost Finding the ghosts … In 2024, the Auditor-General (AG) uncovered R6.4 million in salaries being paid to ghost workers at the Mpumalanga Department of Education. In 2002, the AG flagged more than 60 municipalities with payroll control issues, which suggests the ghost employee issue poisons every tier of government. Msunduzi Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal identified 120 ghost workers in 2021 after 180 employees failed to appear for verification. In 2023, the City of Tshwane found that nearly 500 of workers on its Expanded Public Works Programme could not be verified. The monthly saving once these were eliminated from the payroll was R2 million. But that may not be the end of the problem, after recent claims by the Progressive Civic Congress that Tshwane has more ghost workers on its payroll than all other municipalities. In May the Gauteng health department froze the salaries of 230 employees who could not be verified. This is a small fraction of the 85 000 employed by the department, but the campaign to root out the freeloaders is far from over. ALSO READ: Gauteng health freezes 66 salaries in ghost employee crackdown Salaries for 5 000 non-workers in Public Works Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson launched a campaign in May to root out ghost workers, more than 5 000 of whom receive salaries but do not work for the department. The department oversees public sector infrastructure programmes and manages state assets, and wants to set the tone for the rest of government in eliminating fraud, including ghost workers. 'We have begun an important audit of our workforce in Public Works and Infrastructure where every employee will have to report to an office to physically verify themselves,' said Macpherson. 'This will help us ensure we only pay employees who are actually working to turn South Africa into a construction site.' ALSO READ: R6 million in salaries paid to ghost workers in Mpumalanga Cleaning house The campaign against ghost workers appears to be getting the attention it deserves. Last week the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA), responsible for overseeing more than 1.2 million public sector workers, appeared before parliament to brief the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration on steps it is taking to clean up the pervasive problem of ghost workers on the government payroll. As Corruption Watch reports: 'These non-existent employees draw salaries every month, creating extra pressure on the public purse that it doesn't need. The committee expressed its view that ghost employees also hinder the hiring of new talent and more importantly, undermine public trust.' In April, the Democratic Alliance laid charges of corruption against Minister of Human Settlements Thembi Simelane, who is alleged to have received more than R700 000 from Eskom while employed at Vitrovian, a consulting firm hired to suppress protests at Kusile Power Station during its construction. Simelane, who denies the charges, is claimed to have overbilled Eskom for work performed by ghost employees. The issue of ghost workers was also raised in the latest budget speech by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, promising that government would implement a 'data-driven approach to detecting payroll irregularities [which] will replace the more costly method of using censuses'. This will involve cross-referencing administrative datasets to identify ghost workers and other anomalies across government departments. ALSO READ: National government exorcises Mangaung's ghost workers, corruption Parliament wants naming and shaming Parliament's Portfolio Committee wants ghost employees and officials involved in loading them onto the payroll system to be named and shamed and to face disciplinary action. Its patience with lax HR controls appears to be wearing thin, with the DPSA berated over 'weaknesses in current payroll and human resource management systems in the public sector, which are still primarily paper-based, with internal registers lacking physical or biometric verification'. Perhaps most frustrating for the committee is the lack of statistics on the number of ghost employees. What's needed are hard numbers, names, locations and the financial impact of this fraud. 'The remarks and frustrations voiced by members reflect the urgency and seriousness of the issue, and the DPSA must take them seriously,' said committee chair Jan de Villiers, adding that the credibility of parliamentary oversight depends on results and cannot just be talk shops. What parliament wants is to see that action is being taken against errant officials, including disciplinary and criminal accountability where appropriate. The DPSA says it will conduct a comprehensive audit of the Personnel and Salary (Persal) system, which is used by departments and government entities to capture administrative records for every person appointed. This payroll system requires input from several users with different responsibilities, supposedly making it harder to process ghost salaries. The only way this could be achieved is where all parties are in collusion. ALSO READ: 'It's a scam': Mbalula says Prasa's ghost workers saga to be referred for criminal investigations Windfall for the state purse if addressed Based on the available evidence, there are tens of thousands of ghost workers across the public sector, costing billions of rands a year. The elimination of ghost workers at Prasa alone saved it R200 million. So it's safe to say that a thorough verification of public sector employees will yield a handsome windfall for the fiscus. This has been a key focus of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed until recently by Elon Musk, which by some reports has identified more than 100 000 ghost employees. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has reported that ghost employees account for about 8% occupational fraud cases worldwide. Considering the admitted laxity of controls in SA's public sector, we can assume the local figure is way higher than this. Given the expected public wage bill of close to R800 billion in the current fiscal year, which does not include the roughly R85 billion a year in salaries paid to employees of state-owned companies, ridding the country of moochers would be a huge relief to the fiscus. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
News24
02-06-2025
- Business
- News24
Prasa overcharged by 2 000%; Cradock Four inquest: Today's top 7 stories in 7 minutes
News24 brings you the top stories of the day, summarised into neat little packages. Read through quickly or listen to the articles via our customised text-to-speech feature. ANC Eastern Cape/Facebook Cradock Four inquest: Brutal murders were 'calculated and premeditated', court told A new inquest has begun into the 1985 murders of the Cradock Four, anti-apartheid activists killed by apartheid security forces. Previous inquests identified security forces as responsible, but no prosecutions occurred, prompting the families to continue seeking justice. The current inquest will include site visits and aims to uncover the full truth and provide closure for the families and community. Rosetta Msimango/News24 DERAILED | Price-gouging frenzy: Entities overcharge Prasa by 2 000%, deliver faulty work A forensic report accuses Prasa's contractors of overcharging by as much as 2 000% for repairing trains that are now discarded, with investigators recommending fraud charges. The report details instances of price-gouging, ghost billing, substandard work, and inflated invoices by several contractors, resulting in Prasa paying millions for unusable or poorly repaired locomotives and coaches. Despite spending R2.5 billion on the project, Prasa is not using the repaired trains, leading to recommendations that the expenditure be declared irregular, fruitless, and wasteful. Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp Ex-Moti Group employee - now in witness protection - blocks arrest bid to force him out of hiding Former Moti Group legal advisor Clinton van Niekerk, who leaked documents to amaBhungane, successfully obtained an interdict to avoid being forced out of witness protection to face charges from the company. Van Niekerk's legal team argued that bringing him into the open would endanger his life, requesting he appear in court via video link and stressing his status as a potential witness in a criminal investigation against the Moti Group. The court granted the interdict, with Van Niekerk's attorney stating it sends a message to whistleblowers that courts can protect them and preserve their rights. Lisalee Solomons/News24 Meet the viral matric pupil selling R2 sweets at a taxi rank to pay for his matric ball Rudolph Lekay, a matric pupil from Mitchells Plain, sells sweets and chips at the taxi rank to fund his matric ball expenses, as his mother is a pensioner and cannot afford it. Inspired by elderly ladies selling vetkoek, he started his venture with R150 Christmas money and aims to reach R10 000 by September, earning up to R600 a day. His story went viral, and despite challenges like gang violence and needing to help his mother financially, he remains determined, with plans to study business at university next year. Maya on Money | Retiree expected R2m but was paid out just R240 000 Many people experience retirement shortfalls because they assume their existing policies will be adequate without regular reviews. Leon's Sanlam investment policy matured with a payout far below expectations due to lower-than-projected premium escalations and investment returns. Investors should stay informed about their investments and advisors have a responsibility to provide updates, but legal recourse may be limited due to prescription and pre-FAIS Act policies. Grant Pitcher/) Heinrich Klaasen calls time on international career: 'It's a sad day for me' Heinrich Klaasen has announced his immediate retirement from international cricket, stepping away from white-ball formats after retiring from Test cricket in 2024. Klaasen, who debuted for the Proteas in 2018, established himself as a destructive middle-order batsman in ODIs and T20Is, known for his power-hitting and dominance against spin. Cricket South Africa acknowledged Klaasen's impact and contribution to South African cricket, wishing him success in his future endeavors.
News24
26-05-2025
- News24
The Lead: Derailed - how Prasa fixes trains and then leaves them to rot, with Sipho Masondo
Remember those old yellow and grey Metrorail trains? The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is shelling out billions of your tax money to refurbish them. But instead of ferrying people to and from work, they are being left to rot in train stockyards across the country. News24 investigative journalist Sipho Masondo is pushing to figure out why Prasa is fixing the old trains but not utilising them: 'When former Prasa executives sent this memo to the former minister, Fikile Mbalula, Prasa was already receiving these new [blue and white] trains from Gibela. What is the business rationale behind this?' Later in the show, we look at a hero's attempt to save a family of seven from a shack fire. And finally, News24 Life debunks the viral claims that cheating could land you behind bars. Listen on YouTube: Listen on Apple Podcasts:
