Dear Editor
The DA fully supports the ghost employee audit as a joint measure between the Treasury and Department of Public Service and Administration.
During the national budget negotiations within the GNU, the DA fought hard to have this implemented across government as past audits in entities have helped root out this problem.
The DA will push for these efforts to start with a physical, in-person human audit of all public servants. All government employees should be required to present themselves for biometric verification.
A presentation to Parliament yesterday by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has confirmed the serious issue of ghost employees affecting all three spheres of government, including their departments, agencies, and state-owned entities.
The issue of ghost employees in the public service is not a matter of administrative oversight or mistake, it is an intentional medium for systemic corruption. According to the DPSA, the insertion of a ghost employee into the government salary payment system, requires at least three internal officials to be involved.
While the term “ghost workers” suggests fictitious names on payrolls, real individuals are receiving and benefiting from these fraudulent salary payments, and real taxpayer money is being siphoned into private pockets through deceit.
The current three-tier authentication system for government and public sector employees is evidently vulnerable to manipulation by criminal syndicates embedded within the public service.
This growing crisis demands action, which is why the DA welcomes the proposed collaboration between the DPSA and National Treasury in formulating a joint strategy to combat ghost employees.
We look forward to seeing clear leadership from these institutions in addressing this critical issue.
We will further call for the Auditor-General of South Africa to include in the audits they do of government departments and entities a verification that internal ghost employee audits have been properly conducted.
The DA is optimistic about the proposal of collaboration between the DPSA and National Treasury to combat ghost employees.
We look forward to their return to the Committee in the third quarter of 2025 with a progress update on the implementation of the joint anti-ghost worker strategy.
Regards
Jan de Villiers MP
DA Spokesperson on Public Service & Administration
What is Fraud? “Fraud” is any activity that relies on deception in order to achieve a gain. Fraud becomes a crime when it is a “knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment” (Black’s Law Dictionary). In other words, if you lie in order to deprive a person or organization of their money or property, you’re committing fraud.