The Sunday Times revelation that the department of public works has lost more than R14m to ghost workers, most notably at its Durban regional office, should shock the nation.
Yet, for many South Africans, this news is depressingly familiar. The so-called “ghost worker” phenomenon, where non-existent employees draw salaries from the public purse, has haunted our government for decades. Despite endless promises and periodic crackdowns, the problem persists, raising uncomfortable questions about political will and the culture of impunity that pervades public administration.
The Sunday Times story lays bare the scale and brazenness of the problem. Sixty officials cannot be accounted for after a payroll verification process; 41 of these are tied to the Durban office alone. Surprisingly, even former employees continue to draw salaries, while others simply fail to present themselves for physical verification.
The department’s response, freezing salaries and promising legal action, rings hollow when set against a backdrop of repeated failures to fix this problem.
The saddest and most unfortunate thing is that this is not an isolated case. Time and again, audits, both provincial and national, uncover the same rot of ghost employees, fraudulent payments and a paper trail of squandered public funds.
Departments announce investigations, freeze payments and vow reform, only for similar scandals to resurface months or years later. The cycle of revelation and inaction has become so routine that even the most blatant abuses struggle to provoke outrage.
What is especially disappointing is the resistance to accountability at the highest levels.
Public works minister Dean Macpherson’s efforts to enforce lifestyle audits have met with “significant pushback”. Some senior officials have resigned rather than submit to scrutiny. Others refuse outright to comply, despite clear directives and the obvious public interest.
The persistence of ghost workers is not simply a technical failing; it is a symptom of deeper weaknesses in governance, oversight and ethical leadership
The rot is not limited to payroll. The Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE), which oversees billions in state property leases, has never achieved a clean audit since its creation in 2014.
Instead, it has become synonymous with weak controls, inflated leases and nontransparent processes that bleed the state of resources and erode public trust. The government owns thousands of buildings and millions of hectares of land, yet continues to spend billions on private leases, often at above-market rates and with scant oversight.
It is little wonder that honest public servants are frustrated and the public is sceptical. The persistence of ghost workers is not simply a technical failing; it is a symptom of deeper weaknesses in governance, oversight and ethical leadership.
The tools to fix the problem — audits, verifications and disciplinary procedures — exist. What is lacking is the determination to enforce them, especially when the cost of inaction is borne by ordinary citizens in the form of lost services, higher taxes and diminished faith in government.
Macpherson has taken a commendable stand, insisting that “honest public servants have nothing to fear from accountability”. But unless his efforts are matched by unwavering political support and swift, visible consequences for wrongdoers, the cycle will continue.
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