Civil servants who fraudulently claimed social grants include police officers, National Prosecuting Authority employees and a staffer in the president’s office.
The list of 1 792 civil servants who are required to pay back fraudulently obtained grants was released by the Department of Social Development.
The list includes a staff member in the Presidency who owes R5 120, or about 10% of her annual salary. She must repay R200 a month.
There are 242 police officers on the list. Three of them earn more than R100 000 a year each, owe more than R14 000 together and must repay in total R450 a month.
There four staffers in provincial departments of safety and security, two from the Independent Complaints Directorate, 36 from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, three from the National Prosecuting Authority and one from a premier’s office.
There are 338 health staff, nine principals and 445 education staff.
The youngest fraudster is a 20-year-old nurse who owes R2 140 and the oldest is a 73-year-old nurse who earns R46 908 a year and owes R44 347.
Eleven are aged 65 or older. The smallest sum owed is R170 and the largest is R74 801. More than 60% owe less than R5 000 each. There are 21 people who owe more than R40 000 each, and 99 who owe more than R20 000 each.
For repayments: 169 repay less than R100 a month although some owe more than R5 000; 480 pay back R100 a month although four of them each owe more than R20 000; and only 80 are paying back more than R500 a month each.
In total, the civil servants owe R10,9-million and are together paying back R402 570 a month.
Some are repaying their whole debt in one or two monthly instalments, while others will take years to pay back.
The biggest sum, R74 801, is owed by a KwaZulu-Natal teacher who is paying back just R200 a month over 31 years. An Mpumalanga teacher who owes R57 944 is paying R150 a month over 32 years. — Sapa