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File: Wages
The Public Service Commission has raised concerns over what it describes as the misuse of public funds.
The Commission has revealed that the government spends approximately R800-million annually on suspended public servants.
There are currently 674 suspended officials across the national and provincial governments, with more than 500 suspended for longer than the legally prescribed 60-day period.
The Commission’s Chairperson, Somadoda Fikeni, says, “When I arrived at the Public Service Commission, I was told there was a person who had been on suspension with full pay for 12 years. And another one was placed on special leave, I think it had gone on for seven years. And yet the public sector regulation says you can only suspend a person for 60 days. Anything beyond that, it should be the chair of a disciplinary committee who simply asked for the extension within a reasonable time. But what we had seen is just the abuse of the system.”
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