South Africans spending R800 million a year to keep suspended officials at home

The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration (PCPSA) has raised concerns around the number of suspended public officials who still receive a full salary.

A recent report by the Sunday Times revealed that 674 officials at both the national and provincial levels were currently suspended.

These suspensions reportedly cost the country around R800 million a year, with PCPSA chairperson Jan de Villiers describing this as “deeply concerning”.

“It not only places an additional burden on an already financially stretched state, but these prolonged suspensions point to serious weaknesses in discipline management and consequence management,” De Villiers said.

516 of these officials have been suspended for longer than 90 days, the timeframe mandated by the public service disciplinary code for the finalisation of disciplinary proceedings.

Nine officials have reportedly been suspended for over a year, and a further five have been on suspension for two years or more.

Notably, the above figures do not include statistics on the number of suspended officials at the municipal level, with estimates suggesting this would encompass the majority of government suspensions.

The Sunday Times reported that 75 municipal officials had been suspended across just four of the country’s metropolitan municipalities, including Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Cape Town.

De Villiers said the suspension report revealed a public service system in which proper accountability had eroded at a high cost to South African taxpayers.

He said the prolonged suspensions would not be analysed in isolation, but rather alongside other PCPSA concerns regarding the payment of public service workers.

“Whether it is ghost workers, prolonged suspensions with full pay or unresolved disciplinary cases, these are systemic weaknesses with a real-life impact as much-needed funds are diverted from critical services,” De Villiers said.

“They highlight the need for creating a culture of accountability, where wrongdoing, when proven, has consequences, including recovery of monies, arrests, and prosecutions where warranted.”

Urgent action needed to curb costly suspensions

The Democratic Alliance (DA) wrote a letter to De Villiers on 4 May, requesting that the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, answer for the misuse of the fund.

Among other requests, the DA called on Buthelezi to explain the lack of oversight across departments and to provide a clear plan for recovering misused funds.

On the same day, the PCPSA announced that it would request Buthelezi to give a briefing on the current situation regarding suspension pay.

“The committee will request the minister to brief the committee on the reasons disciplinary matters remain unresolved beyond prescribed timeframes and the corrective steps the department is taking,” De Villiers said.

Buthelezi and his department were asked to provide the PCPSA with statistics on the number of currently suspended officials and the costs to the state.

De Villiers revealed to Newzroom Afrika that Buthelezi appeared before the PCPSA on 6 May to explain why disciplinary processes often exceed the 90-day timeframe.

“He described it as a lack of a culture of accountability in the public service,” De Villiers said. “Right from the top, there isn’t enough of a culture of accountability.”

“Managers need to hold the people that work for them accountable to execute on their duties, and specifically in this instance, to execute on disciplinaries being held.”

De Villiers also described a “revolving door” policy, where suspended officials abuse the disciplinary process to find new positions in other departments.

These officials often employ what De Villiers termed “Stalingrad-style tactics”, extending their disciplinary period by constantly stalling the proceedings.

This happens because South Africa does not have a central registry which warns other departments when certain officials are suspended for a disciplinary process.

De Villiers said the PCPSA had received an update on the implementation of a central registry in its 6 May meeting, and that it was close to completion.