Cape Town - Taxpayers incurred a whopping R131 million in payment of salaries for 1 062 public servants who were sitting at home while on suspension over the past two years.
This was revealed by Public Service and Administration Acting Minister Thulas Nxesi when he was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Mimmy Gondwe.
Gondwe had enquired about the total number of public servants who were on suspension with full pay as well as the cost of the suspensions to the state, among other things.
In his response, Nxesi said information downloaded from Personal and Salary System (Persal) on May 4 showed that 478 public servants were on suspension with full pay in the 2020-21 year.
The number grew to 584 for the 2021-22 year.
Nxesi said the figures excluded data from the Department of Defence and the State Security Agency.
His replies showed that the suspensions cost the taxpayer R73 957 457.41 and R57 263 188.12 in 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectively.
A breakdown for the period that ended in March 2022 by province:
- Eastern Cape R3 720 597.33;
- Free State R4 648 836.75;
- Gauteng R148 056.02;
- KwaZulu-Natal R22 205 822.44;
- Limpopo R778 626.84;
- Mpumalanga R1 934 787.66;
- National government R31 426 800.19;
- North West R6 632 282.05;
- Northern Cape R730 650.45; and
- Western Cape R1 730 997.
The period ending in March 2021 shows that national government recorded R26 771 901.60, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with R18 604 803.21; Free State R5 266 317.17; Mpumalanga R1 902 342.31; Western Cape R1 738 867.69 and North West R1 107 316.51.
The Northern Cape recorded R861 815.53; Eastern Cape R635 239.21; Limpopo R305 543.33; and Gauteng R69 041.59 during the same period.
Nxesi also said there were 10 vacant posts of directors-general in national departments in both financial years.
There were 26 vacant posts of heads of department in provincial departments in 2020-21 and 27 the following year.
Nxesi said he had supported President Cyril Ramaphosa in the provision of delegations of authority for all vacant national director-general posts and that the prerogative to fill an HoD post provincially resided with premiers.
“It must be noted that the filling of a post within a department is the responsibility of the relevant executive authority in terms of Section 3(7) of the Public Service Act, 1994. The practice of recruitment is decentralised to the relevant executive authority,” he said.
However, Nxesi said he and his department continued to support departments through policy and setting of standards in order to efficiently fill vacancies within the parameters of the legislative framework. “The responsibility to fill such vacant posts resides with the relevant executive authority.”
The minister revealed that 2 364 senior managers did not have the qualifications required for the positions they occupied as at May 2022.
A total of 1211 senior managers were found in national departments and 1 153 in provincial departments.
In a parliamentary question dated May, Nxesi said the 2 412 senior managers did not have the qualifications required for their positions.
Responding to a follow-up question from Gondwe, Nxesi said a total of 1819 senior managers were appointed before the public service regulations came into effect in 2016.
He said there was no extension provided to departments to update Persal data, but departments were gradually responding to a circular in the database.
“Currently capturing of qualification on Persal is not mandatory and no punitive measures are employed. Until such time when capturing of qualification on Persal is made mandatory, then the department will employ punitive measures,” Nxesi said.
Cape Times