Pretoria - The government paid more than R130 million to more than 300 public servants who are on suspension with full pay and benefits.
One, an employee of the Gauteng Economic Development, has been on full pay for four years.
These were the damning revelations of Acting Minister of Public Service and Administration, Thulas Nxesi, in his written reply to questions from the DA public service and administration spokesperson, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, in the National Assembly. Gondwe asked Nxesi to give details about the total number of suspended officials; the charges against them and any punitive measures taken by the department against the 305 officials.
In his reply, Nxesi said a Gauteng official had been suspended for four years (1 604 days) for fraud. Another official had been suspended for 902 days for misuse of a petrol card.
Three assistant directors were on suspension for fraud and another on theft charges. A deputy director is facing charges of poor performance, insubordination, and fraud.
In the Gauteng Community Safety Department three officials were charged with discharging firearms in public – one incident resulted in a fatality.
In the Department of Infrastructure Development nine officials were suspended – three junior officials for 99 days for theft of copper pipe.
Six senior officials, including one deputy director-general and five other managers, were charged with failure to follow prescripts in the appointment of professional service providers in the AngloGold Ashanti hospital refurbishment project. All had been on suspension for 116 days.
Nxesi also gave shocking details of sex allegations against some officials. Two Department of Higher Education officials, one a deputy director-general, were facing charges of raping learners. The deputy director general has been on suspension for 237 days while another official has been iced for 44 days. In the Northern Cape, two officials had been on suspension for three and two years over the sexual harassment of learners.
KwaZulu-Natal had the highest cases of sex-related crimes with officials having sexual relations with learners. Four officials were facing charges of allegedly having sexual relations with learners.
One has been on suspension for 1 050 days, the second for 990 days, the third for 150 days while the last for 60 days.
Seven other officials are charged with sexual assault while another five face sexual harassment charges.
The others were facing financial misconduct charges bringing the total number in the Education Department to 27 officials.
In Gauteng, two Education Department officials are facing sexual assault charges and six in the Western Cape. Other Education Departments were also fingered in sex charges.
Three officials in Western Cape Premier Alan Winde’s office, were charged with sexual harassment while no cases were reported in the premier’s offices in other provinces.
In her reaction, Gondwe also said a Department of Defence official has been on suspension for three years (1 157 days) for allegedly stealing state rations; a Department of Health official has been on suspension for two-and-a-half years (930 days) over fraud; and a senior public servant in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has been on suspension for two years (778 days) for alleged negligence.
Home Affairs was singled out as one of the worst departments. A total of 26 were charged, some for assisting foreign nationals to fraudulently obtain IDs and passports.
Gondwe said Public Service and Administration should urgently implement a discipline management strategy so government departments could finalise disciplinary cases within the 90-day period stipulated by Public Service Regulations. “It is grossly unfair that, year in and year out, the already burdened South African taxpayer pays such a heavy price.”
Pretoria News