ActionSA has written to the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms. Noxolo Kiviet, to investigate the issue surrounding ghost employees within the Department of Basic Education that is adversely affecting the Public Sector Wage Bill.
The Department of Education is one of the critical components in South Africa. It has hired more than 450,000 employees. This is commendable; however, any department of this magnitude tends to be infiltrated by rogue elements that continue to tarnish its image.
In our quest to assist in reducing the public sector wage bill, we strongly believe that this cannot be achieved if the Department of Education continues paying salaries to ghost employees.
Research conducted by Corruption Watch estimated that there are at least 3,417 cases of unlawful conduct in South African primary and secondary schools, which include ghost employees.
As a party rooted in ethical leadership and the rule of law, we beseech your department to conduct a vigorous audit, not limited to headcount, to ascertain the number of employees that the department has as of March 2024.
We understand that the issues we are raising are not unfamiliar to the department. Therefore, we urge your department to kick-start the formal process of addressing this issue.
We firmly believe that by adopting a proactive approach instead of a reactive one, the department can significantly contribute to reducing the public sector wage bill, which currently accounts for more than 34 percent of government expenditure.
Therefore, we request that the department furnish us with information on past and current steps that it has undertaken to combat this nefarious behaviour, but most importantly, we need to know how many ghost employees were found during the investigation that the department has conducted.
We hope and believe that the department will respond to our letter within 10 working days.
ActionSA Writes to Public Services Minister to Rid the Department of Ghost Employees
ActionSA has written to the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms. Noxolo Kiviet, to investigate the issue surrounding ghost employees within the Department of Basic Education that is adversely affecting the Public Sector Wage Bill.
The Department of Education is one of the critical components in South Africa. It has hired more than 450,000 employees. This is commendable; however, any department of this magnitude tends to be infiltrated by rogue elements that continue to tarnish its image.
In our quest to assist in reducing the public sector wage bill, we strongly believe that this cannot be achieved if the Department of Education continues paying salaries to ghost employees.
Research conducted by Corruption Watch estimated that there are at least 3,417 cases of unlawful conduct in South African primary and secondary schools, which include ghost employees.
As a party rooted in ethical leadership and the rule of law, we beseech your department to conduct a vigorous audit, not limited to headcount, to ascertain the number of employees that the department has as of March 2024.
We understand that the issues we are raising are not unfamiliar to the department. Therefore, we urge your department to kick-start the formal process of addressing this issue.
We firmly believe that by adopting a proactive approach instead of a reactive one, the department can significantly contribute to reducing the public sector wage bill, which currently accounts for more than 34 percent of government expenditure.
Therefore, we request that the department furnish us with information on past and current steps that it has undertaken to combat this nefarious behaviour, but most importantly, we need to know how many ghost employees were found during the investigation that the department has conducted.
We hope and believe that the department will respond to our letter within 10 working days.