1 159 Ghost Employees Disappear From Prasa's payroll Saving R200m, SA Claims Cover-Up: “We Are Being Lied to”

• A significant number of "employees" disappeared from Prasa's payroll, saving the parastatal millions
• South Africans are convinced that some higher-ups are involved because the payments had to be cleared by someone with authority
• According to Transport Minister Fikile, Mbalula, out of the 17 268 employees at the parastatal only 14 268 could verify their employee status

JOHANNESBURG - South Africans smell a rat in the Prasa ghost employee scandal, with many citizens speculating that someone in top management was in on the scheme.

This comes after Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula revealed that almost 1 159 'employees' disappeared from Prasa's payroll system in one day when Operation Ziveze launched in 2021. The drop in employee numbers resulted in the parastatal saving R200m in salary payments.

The scandal has raised red flags for many citizens who believe that there is no way HR didn't know about the ghost employees:

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@mashoodoZ asked:

"HR and their managers, who was signing attendance registers on their behalf and who was collecting payslips on their behalf."

@AkanyangM claimed:

"A WHOLE cover-up."

@mornesmith stated:

"The question that SHOULD BE ASKED: into which accounts did those “ghost workers” salaries go? And whom are the holders of those accounts?"

@soundbytte suggested:

"They should be jailed, and ghosts in the company who created them fired and jailed."

@Setima_Mollo claimed:

"There were never ghost employees to start with. It was a premature “cleaning up” announcement which cannot be backed up by facts.

According to Mbalula, the discovery of 3 100 ghost employees resulted in employee verification efforts through Operation Ziveza. Out of the 17 268 employees at the parastatal only 14 268 could verify their employee status, SowetanLIVE reported.

The discrepancy in the number of verified employers led to a preliminary investigation where 2143 employees were flagged and categorised into four groups.

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According to The Citizen, one group was flagged as possible ghost workers. Other employees were flagged for masquerading as someone else. Some employees submitted fraudulent qualifications. And the last group were flagged for serious criminal offences.

Calls to move Africa’s freight back to railway, move could bring billions in investments

In another matter, Briefly News reported that the calls were growing to move freight back onto rail rather than road following several fatal accidents on the country’s highways. Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula is supporting the calls.

Aside from easing road congestion, freight through rails will improve safety and be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Several African countries have been working on the Integrated Transport Strategy, and while much progress has been made, there is still a long way to go.

According to BusinessLIVE, Transnet Freight Rail’s chief executive Sizakele Mzimela said a pilot project between South Africa and Mozambique Ports and Railways is currently running. She said the project results in swifter services which create the capacity to run more cargoes with fewer locomotives.

Source: Briefly News