We knew suspended civil servants have cost taxpayers R131m — and now we know what they’re supposed to have done.
The 305 officials who have been sitting at home on full pay — for as long as 1,604 days, in one case — face disciplinary charges ranging from rape to swearing.
Between those two extremes lies a litany of alleged offences including sexual harassment, copper theft, money-lending, assault, insolence and numerous cases involving procurement fraud.
The most senior officials on precautionary suspension on June 30, when the list was compiled, were two directors-general: Kgathatso Tlhakudi at public enterprises and Sam Vukela at public works and infrastructure.
Tlhakudi was suspended in June for allegedly interfering in the appointment of a senior manager in the security and facilities department. He is charged with unethical conduct.
In a written parliamentary answer, public service minister Thulas Nxesi says Vukela had been suspended for “over 90 days”, but when the DG was allowed to take early retirement on August 31 he had been off work for 763 days.
He faced disciplinary charges related to the irregular appointment of senior staff, irregular payment of a service provider in connection with official funerals, irregular procurement of service providers, and the erection of the Beitbridge border post fence.
The list of suspended officials Nxesi supplied to DA MP Mimmy Gondwe covers national and provincial government departments, and in an earlier reply the minister said paying them to stay at home had cost R131m by June 30.
The highest number of suspensions nationally was 26 at home affairs, where nine officials are charged with bribery and extortion and five with irregular processing of passports.
Three of the home affairs suspensions involve senior officials sent home a year ago after three warrants of arrest were issued for minister Aaron Motsoaledi and director-general Livhuwani Makhode, who had been found guilty of contempt of court.
Deputy director-general of human resources Nkidi Mohoboko, chief director of employee services Sello Malaka and director of labour relations Ditsoanelo Mosikili face charges of alleged gross negligence and dereliction of duty for allegedly ignoring court orders.
Provincially, the longest suspension listed is 1,604 days — well over four years — for a Gauteng economic development department employee charged with fraud
The only two national government suspensions related to sexual offences are in the higher education department, but provincial education departments have 38 staff suspended for alleged sexual relationships with pupils, sexual assaults and sexual harassment. Half of these are in KwaZulu-Natal.
The office of Western Cape premier Alan Winde reports having suspended three officials, including an assistant director, for alleged sexual harassment, and three Western Cape health department deputy directors face the same charge.
In August last year, four senior managers at the department of military veterans were placed on precautionary suspension after placing three orders for an unregistered Covid-19 drug from Cuba that led to R124m in wasteful expenditure.
The deputy director-general, two chief directors and the CFO face charges relating to unprofessional conduct, insubordination, mismanagement and disregard of policies and processes.
Six senior staff at the Gauteng infrastructure development department are suspended over the refurbishment of the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital in Carletonville as a Covid-19 critical-care facility. The work cost R460m but was never finished and the hospital — handed over to the health department in May 2021 — treated just 147 patients before it was abandoned and returned to the mining company.
The six officials — a deputy director-general, two chief directors and three deputy directors — are charged with “failure to follow prescripts in the appointment of professional services providers”.
The presidency has a single employee on suspension: a director charged with gross dishonesty, incitement, fraud, colluding and conniving, and failure to disclose information.
Four officials in the KwaZulu-Natal premier’s office are listed as having been suspended for 810 days for alleged contravention of supply chain management policies. These suspensions relate to allegations of a R24m tender fraud which has also led to criminal charges. The Asset Forfeiture Unit has attached 40 vehicles and 20 properties, including an Umhlanga boutique hotel, as potentially being proceeds of crime.
The longest national government suspension listed is 1,157 days — for a low-level employee at the defence department charged with theft of state rations. Provincially, the longest suspension listed is 1,604 days — well over four years — for a Gauteng economic development department employee charged with fraud.
Finally, an official in the North West conservation department is charged with illegally issuing rhino-hunting permits, and a Western Cape education assistant director is charged with “improper conduct (swearing)”.
The backlog of disciplinary cases in the public service has almost doubled in the last two years to almost 3,000, said Nxesi. He told Gondwe these were cases that have taken more than the targeted 90 days to conclude.
Since 2019, the number of public servants conducting business with the state has fallen by 90% and totalled just 109 in October, said Nxesi. The total has been whittled down from 1,068 with the help of 161 disciplinary procedures.
Seven public servants have been criminally convicted for conducting business with the state and six are under criminal investigation, he added.
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