By Ebi Kesiena
A preliminary audit of South Africa’s public sector payroll has uncovered 4,323 suspected “ghost workers” across various government departments, raising fresh concerns about weaknesses in the country’s financial oversight and administrative controls.
The findings were disclosed on Thursday by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, which warned that the discovery revealed significant vulnerabilities within the government’s payroll system.
Chairperson of the committee, Jan de Villiers, said the early results of the ongoing verification exercise suggest the possibility of large-scale payroll fraud at a time when employee compensation already accounts for nearly one-third of South Africa’s consolidated government expenditure.
“Employees who cannot be verified must be dealt with swiftly and in accordance with due process,” de Villiers said.
He added that the committee has requested detailed reports outlining the departments and provinces where the suspected ghost workers were identified, as well as the potential financial losses associated with the irregularities.
According to him, safeguarding the integrity of the public service is essential to maintaining constitutional governance. “Verification and decisive action in this regard cannot be delayed,” he said.
The committee has also called on the National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration to accelerate the verification process. The ongoing exercise includes biometric checks such as facial matching against the National Population Register, alongside physical staff verification across government offices.
De Villiers further noted that the next phase of reforms will introduce more robust payroll systems and a unified digital sign-on platform for public servants to minimise the risk of fraudulent entries.
South Africa has battled persistent corruption challenges in the public sector for more than a decade, with payroll fraud repeatedly highlighted by the Auditor-General of South Africa as a major governance risk.
Ghost workers, individuals listed on government payrolls but who do not actually exist or perform duties have reportedly cost the state billions of rand over the years, particularly within provincial departments and municipalities where monitoring systems are often weaker.
The committee described the current audit as a crucial step toward restoring accountability and rebuilding a professional public service following years of governance failures associated with the country’s state capture era.
It also welcomed recent budgetary allocations aimed at modernising payroll systems and expanding the national e-government procurement platform, noting that these reforms are critical for strengthening transparency and preventing financial fraud within the public sector.
