Durban -KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu’s office is scrutinising a report by the Public Service Commission (PSC) which revealed that some senior managers in different government departments were moonlighting, while others had accepted undeclared gifts.
This follows a national probe by the commission into declarations by the senior managers between January and March this year.
Thami Ngidi, Mchunu’s spokesperson, said the director-general was handling the results of the probe and that the premier had warned government employees against engaging in unlawful dealings with the government.
“The premier had previously warned employees to declare gifts worth more than R500. If you have a company doing business with the government, you need written permission from the premier’s office.
“The report, it must be noted, is a basic survey which does not tell if those who have businesses are actually doing business with the government. The matter is, however, receiving the director-general’s attention,” Ngidi said yesterday.
According to the commission’s quarterly bulletin, 721officials in the national and provincial departments did not disclose their directorships in private and public companies, thereby contravening Regulation 19 of the Public Service Regulation 2016.
The number was part of the 1943 public service managers who are directors of private and public companies.
Hundreds of senior officials were doing remunerative work outside the public service, according to the bulletin. KZN was found to have 22 officials engaged in this practice, 14 with written approval.
In the same period, 30 top officials in the province received gifts to the value of R896136.
These officials included two directors-general, two deputy directors-general, five chief directors and 21 directors.
Ngidi said in dealing with the PSC findings, the premier’s office had another exercise to perform to get to the bottom of the matter.
“Supply chain will be involved to see if everything was done following proper processes. Those found to be doing business with government without written approval can be charged,” he said.