Government Is Spending Billions on Suspended Public Servants' Salaries
- Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed that the government has spent over R2 billion on suspended employees salaries in the last financial year
- He was responding to a written parliamentary question from DA MP Mimmy Martha Gondwe
- The employees were suspended for a variety of reasons, over 3 000 of them are on full pay and being investigated for disciplinary infractions
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Public Service and Administration Minister Senzo Mchunu revealed in a reply to a written Parliamentary question from the DA about suspended government employees.
DA MP Mimmy Martha Gondwe had asked about the details regarding suspended employees who are still receiving pay.
Mchunu revealed that 6 344 public servants were suspended and on full pay which cost the government R2 billion in the financial year 2020-21.
Source: Facebook
Of those suspended more than 3 000 were receiving full pay and were suspended for various disciplinary offences ranging from not turning up to work, damaging state property, breaching safety rules, forging documents, using their position to promote a political party, sexual harassment and sleeping on duty.
Some of those officials suspended had been on full pay for up to 21 months.
Earlier, Briefly.co.za reported that a South African Social Security Agency employee is being charged with fraud which cost the government R4 million.
The figure comes from the 14 years she has worked at Sassa drawing a salary. Alina Dimakatso Nkwanyana Selepe allegedly used a fake matric certificate to land her admin job at Sassa back in 2006.
The department only picked this up due to an audit with the Department of Basic Education which discovered that her matric documents were fake.
She was arrested by the Hawks and was released on R3 000 bail. Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Sekgotodi confirmed that Selepe had applied for the position of team leader administration in Sassa and allegedly used a fake matric certificate to do so.
In other news, South African Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has found that at least 6 000 senior departmental officials have had alleged involvement in the defrauding of millions of rands from SA's UIF TERS (Temporary Employer Relief Scheme).
According to the findings made by the SIU, the officials involved made a number of fraudulent payments to deceased people, people from foreign countries, people who shared banking details with other people and even people with incorrect ID numbers.
This large number of fraudulent payments amounted to a whopping total of R57.3 million rand paid out by the UIF to a total of 13 447 006 employees who were linked to 1.5 million companies in 2019.
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Source: Briefly News
