SIU Investigating Over 1 200 PRASA Ghost Employees Still Getting Salaries, SA Furious

• The Special Investigating Unit is looking into 1 200 Passenger Rail Agency South Africa employees who may not exist but are getting paid
• Despite over 1 000 employees disappearing from the payroll after PRSASA launched an operation to expose them, the fraud continued
• The SIU acted after a proclamation to investigate the fraud was signed following investigations into state capture

With nine years' experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a current affairs writer for Briefly News, provided insights into the criminal justice system and high-profile cases in South Africa at Daily Sun.

JOHANNESBURG—The Special Investigating Unit has found that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is paying the salaries of over 1 200 ghost employees.

PRASA and ghost workers

IOL reported that the SIU had been given permission under Proclamation 153 of 2024 to investigate the ghost employees. This is not the first time PRASA has flagged non-existent workers on its payroll. The first investigation was conducted in 2021 when Fikile Mbalula was still Transport Minister. 1159 employees disappeared from the payroll after Operation Ziveze was launched.

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The discovery of more ghost employees prompted the second investigation. SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said Operation Ziveze was not executed efficiently. The ghost workers are believed to be workers who passed away but were not removed from the payroll. Sometimes, the dead workers' banking details were replaced with new information.

Netizens want answers

South Africans on Facebook demanded to know what would happen to the ghost employees. Some suspected other departments had ghost workers.

Denesh Ramdat Govender said:

"We've been hearing about this from the time Mbaks was Minister of Transport, yet nothing was done about it. Stop talking and take action."

Raj Govender said:

"A serious task team must be engaged to make sure there is not a single ghost worker, and in so doing it will help create jobs."

Molumo MJ said:

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"It's not just Prasa. Most state departments too."

Kevin Pearson said:

"It never ends. Total incompetence."

Mathandi Mambili said:

"The management joined MK. They can answer better than anyone."

PRASA revives Shosholoza Meyl

In a related article, Briefly News reported that Prasa revived long-distance Shosholoza Meyl railway journeys.

The announcement was made last December, and PRASA revived the Johannesburg to Durban and Cape Town journeys.

Source: Briefly News