In a stunning revelation that has sent shockwaves through government corridors, the National Treasury has launched a ruthless crackdown on a legion of “ghost workers” who have been illicitly feeding from the public trough. The department is in the process of expunging nearly nine thousand such phantoms from the state’s payroll, a move aimed at staunching the flow of millions in public funds lost to brazen fraud. The bombshell was dropped as part of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, presented by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, exposing a deep-seated rot within the system.
The Treasury’s sophisticated systems flagged a staggering 8,854 instances where individuals were found to be drawing salaries from more than one government department simultaneously. This initiative forms the cornerstone of a wider, aggressive savings campaign designed to instil fiscal discipline and root out systemic corruption. A Treasury insider confirmed that the purge specifically targets “employees who are inactive, those with suspicious bank account details, and people whose details pop up across several departmental payrolls.”
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This financial spring-cleaning is not limited to the government payroll; Minister Godongwana has declared that the net will also be cast wide to ensnare those guilty of social grant fraud and “double dipping.”
Verification Process Underway with SARS
While the figure of 8,854 ghost workers is staggering, the Treasury has urged caution, noting that the final number is still being confirmed. The department’s Director-General, Dr Duncan Pieterse, has shed light on the meticulous verification process now underway. He revealed that the Treasury is working hand-in-glove with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to cross-reference the data. Dr Pieterse stated,
“We are currently using confidential and anonymous data from SARS to verify these numbers. It is a complex process that must be handled with the utmost care to ensure its integrity.”
The Final Cost to the Fiscus Still Unknown
The ultimate financial damage inflicted upon the South African taxpayer by this elaborate payroll scam remains a mystery for now. The Treasury has made it clear that a full accounting of the losses can only happen once every single flagged case has been thoroughly investigated and confirmed. Dr Pieterse elaborated on the complexity, noting,
“The final cost to the fiscus will only be determined upon the completion of this verification process.”
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This admission suggests that the current number of ghost workers, and the millions of Rands they have collectively siphoned off, could be just the tip of the iceberg, leaving citizens to wonder just how deep the rabbit hole of government payroll fraud truly goes.