Latest news with #WastefulSpending
The Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- The Herald
Ghost employees and salaries leave KZN fiscus R160m in the red
Ghost employees and public servants' salaries, particularly in health and education, and wasteful spending are to blame for KwaZulu-Natal overspending its budget by close to R160m. KwaZulu-Natal finance MEC Francois Rodgers painted a bleak picture in the KZN legislature on Tuesday when briefing MPLs on the unaudited 2024/25 financial year close-out report for provincial departments. The treasury said KZN had experienced equitable share budget cuts amounting to more than R64bn since 2020. 'In the 2024/25 financial year, provincial expenditure amounted to R151.9bn, exceeding the budget by R158.6m. An amount totalling R7.8bn has been accrued to the 2025/26 financial year,' said Rodgers. He said he was concerned that the amount accrued far exceeded accruals from the past two financial years. 'I am further concerned that from accruals, R3.2bn is more than 30 days which is non-compliant with the Public Finance Management Act. This signals a negative affect on future budgets,' he said. With regard to ghost employees, Rodgers and his cabinet counterparts are conducting a verification process. 'Adherence to financial management prescripts and good corporate governance will be key to alleviating pressure on the provincial fiscus,' Rodgers said. 'We must also continue seeking partnerships with all key stakeholders, including the business community, and find cost-effective strategies that will bring us closer to the establishment of a capable and ethical state.' The provincial cabinet recently approved the KZN financial recovery plan aimed at restoring financial stability, eliminating wasteful expenditure and enhancing revenue collection, among others. Public Servants' Association KZN manager Mlungisi Ndlovu echoed Rodgers' concerns. 'The big question is where are they overspending, because the majority of them, especially frontline departments like education and health, are not financially sound,' he said. Ndlovu said the provincial government needed to clamp down on the scourge of ghost employees in the public service. TimesLIVE
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Reform UK's Musk-style efficiency unit will ‘take as long as it takes'
Reform UK have warned that their first Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit 'will take as long as it takes' to provide recommendations. On Monday, the inaugural Doge team arrived at Kent County Council (KCC) in Maidstone for their first meeting. Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf met leader Councillor Linden Kemkaran along with senior KCC staff accompanied by millionaire Reform-backer Aaron Banks and Nathaniel Fried, a tech entrepreneur said to be leading the Doge unit. The party plans to use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to 'identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions'. It follows the US Doge, which was launched during Donald Trump's presidency to cut federal spending which billionaire Mr Musk was spearheading before his recent departure. A KCC spokesperson has said the council 'has always been committed to transparency and accountability' but will work 'collaboratively and professionally' with the Doge team. Reform claims that the meeting on Monday was 'very productive' but the party had admitted it does not know how long it will take for the unit to produce recommendations. A party spokesperson told the PA News Agency: 'We're crunching numbers and producing recommendations and those recommendations will then go to the leadership team at Kent County Council, so the council leader and the cabinet, to kind of make an informed decision on whether some cut backs can be made, or whether some action can be taken. 'From what I've heard it was a very productive meeting yesterday, the council were very co-operative and the team got what they needed so now it's just a case of waiting for those recommendations to be made. 'This is the first one we've done, obviously it's the first one that's ever been done really in this manner so it will take as long as it takes, we're hoping it won't take too long.' He added: 'After this is done we will hopefully have a better indication of the kind of time frames for future councils as well.' Mr Fried, who is spearheading KCC's Doge project, was described by Reform as 'one of the country's leading tech entrepreneurs with a specialism in data analytics who has also been a turnaround CEO'. The 28-year-old, from Surrey, co-founded TurgenSec, which developed systems to uncover data breaches for businesses. In June 2023, he told CEO Today that after 'a long line of failed businesses' he put every penny he had into TurgenSec, including his university maintenance loan. Mr Banks, who stood to be mayor of the West of England last month but failed to win, will act as an advisor for the unit. Reform took 57 of a possible 81 seats in Kent at the local elections on May 1, overturning Conservative control of the council for the first time. On Tuesday, a KCC spokesperson said: 'We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and professionally with the new administration here at KCC, including the Doge team. 'KCC has always been committed to transparency and accountability and has been consistently praised by external auditors for the accuracy of its accounts and the prudent management of public funds. 'Much of our information, including full budget, external contracts register, and auditor's reports, is already in the public domain for anyone to scrutinise and review.'
