R800 Million Wasted on Suspended Public Servants

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is outraged, but not surprised, by revelations that the South African government spends approximately R800 million annually paying suspended public servants who remain at home for years while disciplinary processes collapse under corruption, political interference, and administrative incompetence.

According to a report by the Public Service Commission, there are currently 674 suspended officials across national and provincial government, with more than 500 suspended for longer than the legally prescribed 90-day period. Even more shocking is the case of a deputy director in the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities who has reportedly received more than R5 million after being suspended in 2018 and later found guilty of financial misconduct.

The EFF has repeatedly highlighted this crisis through our responses to Auditor- General reports and public statements exposing fruitless and wasteful expenditure across all spheres of government. The revelations by Public Service Commission Chairperson Somadoda Fikeni that some officials have remained on suspension for up to 12 years expose the complete collapse of governance and consequence management within the state. What exists today is not a disciplinary system but an organised mechanism of protecting politically connected bureaucrats while poor South Africans are told there is no money for clinics, schools, housing, or jobs. This figure of R800 million does not even begin to capture the full extent of waste, as it excludes the additional remuneration paid to acting officials.

This means South Africans are not only paying suspended officials to stay at home, but are also paying extra for the people temporarily occupying their positions. Furthermore, this practice has now become entrenched at the highest levels of the state.

In the South African Police Service (SAPS), both Minister Senzo Mchunu and National Commissioner Fannie Masemola have become case studies of how suspension, special leave, and acting arrangements are increasingly no longer used as accountability mechanisms. Their cases illustrate how the state avoids decisive disciplinary outcomes while continuing to fund all parties involved: the official under scrutiny, and those acting in their place at the expense of taxpayers.

At local government level, where oversight is weakest, the situation is even worse. Reports that suspended Emfuleni municipal officials have collectively received tens of millions of rand while sitting at home demonstrate the complete degeneration of municipalities. Additionally, Nelson Mandela Bay City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi has cost taxpayers approximately R5.8 million over an almost three-year suspension, highlighting how accountability is endlessly deferred while salaries continue uninterrupted.

The EFF further notes the warning by governance experts that prolonged suspensions are often used to remove officials who stand in the way of corrupt procurement networks while compliant individuals are installed in acting positions to facilitate looting.

The EFF therefore demands mandatory conclusion of disciplinary processes within 90 days; automatic dismissal of accounting officers who allow unlawful prolonged suspensions; full public disclosure of all suspended government officials and associated costs; and criminal prosecution where suspensions involve corruption and financial misconduct.

South Africans cannot continue financing a parasitic state bureaucracy while unemployment rises, municipalities collapse, and millions live without dignity. The ANC government has normalised a corrupt system where public office is treated as a gateway to personal enrichment without consequence; and we encourage all South Africans to remember this as you cast your ballot in the upcoming local government elections.

Floyd Shivambu serves as the party’s Deputy President and is a prominent spokesperson.

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