Tshwane Audit Discovers 540 Bogus Employees

A Gauteng metro will save R2m a month after eliminating payments to 540 bogus employees it couldn’t verify.

The Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality undertook a verification process of its employees, freezing payments amounting to R2m per month.

During the audit, the metro assessed about 20,646 employees and 10,763 Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) participants.

Kingsley Wakelin, the MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, highlighted that the process’s goal was to eradicate potential ghost employees and prevent future adverse audit findings, ultimately demonstrating accountability to residents.

Wakelin stated, “Tshwane has frozen salary and stipend payments totaling over R2m per month. The verification process took place over two months, requiring permanent and fixed-term contract employees to physically present themselves with proof of identity.”

With a remarkable 99.8% success rate, the verification process authenticated 20,602 employees, including those on suspension.

Also read: Pyramid Substation Restoration Nears Completion, Says Tshwane Metro

The audit revealed that:

• Forty-four employees did not physically present themselves for verification.
• Three employees were in the hospital.
• Seven employees were on extended sick leave.
• One employee was incarcerated.

Wakelin reported that a separate verification process for EPWP participants confirmed the details of 10,763 individuals (95.8%). In contrast, the metro could not verify 496 EPWP participants.

Wakelin mentioned, “Upon identifying unverified employees and EPWP participants, Tshwane took immediate steps to halt their salary and wage payments and decided to terminate their employment and participation in the EPWP.”

As part of enhancing control measures, the heads of departments will continue to sign off on salary bills each month.

Wakelin expressed the metro’s commitment to conducting employee and EPWP participant verifications on an annual basis to uphold responsible financial management and achieve clean audits.

He underlined the metro’s dedication to maintaining good governance.

In 2020, during the administrative saga that led to the national government’s approval of dissolving and administering the Tshwane council, the metro initiated an audit and verification process to uncover so-called ghost employees.

Head administrator Mpho Nawa confirmed the audit, which aimed to identify employees suspected of fraudulent employment.

The metro audited and verified all employees over six days in August 2020, exposing ghost workers illicitly drawing salaries.

In total, 1,400 bogus employees fraudulently obtaining monthly salaries were identified, furthering the metro’s commitment to transparency in its financial operations.

Source: 540 bogus employees found during Tshwane audit

Also read:

Tshwane Metro Takes Action Against Non-Compliant Spaza Shops in the North

Picture: Unsplash / Scott Graham

Follow us on Google News.