Issue of 'ghost workers' not administrative error but deliberate organised crime - Parly committee
The Public Service and Administration committee believes the issue is so widespread that thousands of ghost workers are currently milking the system to the tune of millions every month after infiltrating the payroll system.
CAPE TOWN - Parliament’s Public Service and Administration portfolio committee says the phenomenon of “ghost workers” is not an administrative error, but organised crime within government.
Chairperson of the committee, Jan de Villiers, believes the issue is so widespread that thousands of ghost workers are currently milking the system to the tune of millions every month after infiltrating the payroll system.
De Villiers was addressing a briefing in parliament on Monday as part of the governance cluster.
The issue of ghost workers has been around for years, with evidence pointing to over 2,000 “suspicious” employees in State entities like the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) back in 2022.
READ: 'Deep dive' into PRASA uncovered serious fraud, SIU tells SCOPA
De Villiers said the phenomenon now affects all spheres of government and not just government agencies.
He said the current authentication system is open to manipulation.
“This, I must stress, is not merely a payroll anomaly. It is a deliberate and orchestrated form of systemic corruption. It is organised crime within the state.”
He said the portfolio committee welcomes the joint audit of ghost employees that is currently underway, saying it signals a departure from previous “fragmented” audits that yielded no results.