By Akani Nkuna
Only 17 of the 106 recommendations made by the Public Service Commission (PSC) were implemented by Gauteng departments between the 2016/17 and 2023/24 financial years.
PSC chairperson Somadoda Fikeni told the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration that despite receiving 30 recommendations, Gauteng’s human settlements and infrastructure department took no action.
The commissioner, who regularly meets with top provincial officials, raised concerns over the lack of accountability in addressing grievances and complaints.
As part of a week-long oversight programme in the North West and Gauteng, the committee met Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and senior provincial government officials, urging them to implement the PSC’s recommendations and take stronger action to recover funds lost due to misconduct.
It said that the new Public Service Commission Act would strengthen the commission’s authority, making it more independent and better equipped to enforce its recommendations.
“This Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration agrees that this wastage in the public sector wage bill and specifically ghost employees creates unnecessary expenses for taxpayers and stops service delivery to people who deserve it,” said committee chairperson Jan de Villiers.
He explained that the oversight visit was to help the committee assess challenges affecting good governance in the province.
De Villiers highlighted significant waste in the public sector wage bill, citing issues such as employees not working their contracted hours, public servants conducting business with the state and some unlawfully receiving government grants.
“…members of this portfolio committee decided to prioritise these efforts and to conduct oversight over what is being done to identify ghost employees and reduce wastage,” he said.
The committee was also updated on the provincial government’s integrity management efforts, including the establishment of the Gauteng Ethics Advisory Board, which includes the Special Investigating Unit, Public Protector and PSC.
Lesufi assured the members that the board consisted of individuals committed to clean governance.
The committee praised the province’s focus on lifestyle audits, noting that the premier and his executive led by example, with audits now extended to senior management and supply chain officials.
“On submission of financial disclosures, the committee welcomed the province’s compliance rate of 99.7% of senior management members’ disclosures in 2024. Members, however, were concerned about the 152 officials who were found to be doing business with the state; most of them (124) were recorded in the provincial department of education,” PSC spokesperson Alicestine October said in a statement on Thursday.
The committee expressed concern over R49.4 million lost to financial mismanagement, with R19 million considered unrecoverable. It urged the provincial government to recover the funds.
The committee noted that only 39% of disciplinary cases were finalised and sought more details on costs and delays.
De Villiers suggested establishing independent disciplinary panels to improve processes.
“The committee also heard from the PSC that 95.3% of senior management members across provincial departments possessed the necessary qualifications for their positions, and only seven departments had verified the qualifications of all these people. Committee members urged the provincial administration to do more to verify qualifications,” October added.
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