Public Service Commission of South Africa (SA) has raised alarm over what it calls the misuse of public funds through prolonged suspensions of government employees.
The Commission says the state spends about $48 million annually paying suspended public servants, with 674 officials currently on suspension across national and provincial departments. More than 500 of them have been suspended for longer than the legally prescribed 60-day period.
Commission Chairperson Somadoda Fikeni says the system is being abused, citing cases where some officials remained on suspension with full pay for years.
“There is a person who had been on suspension with full pay for 12 years, yet regulations say you can only suspend a person for 60 days. What we have seen is just the abuse of the system,” Fikeni said.
The Commission is calling for stricter enforcement of disciplinary timelines to curb wasteful expenditure.
–ChannelAfrica–
