Public servants who do not know how to manage money cost the state R130-million and themselves more than R1-billion in the past financial year.
These are the staggering findings of two reports by the Public Service Commission (PSC), which investigated the financial misconduct in the state and the indebtedness of public servants.
The report on indebtedness lists the number of public servants who have been ordered by courts to make ‘garnishee payments†to creditors. In the past financial year 4 063 public servants incurred debt through microlenders and borrowed R13,3-million, but because of years of non-payment, 216 857 public servants made garnishee-related payments in the past year, amounting to R1,1-billion.
Stan Sangweni of the PSC says that many public servants are over-indebted. The severe debt burden that public servants have is a result of overindulgence and debt is being used to supplement monthly salaries, he says.
‘Any doubt concerning the ability of public servants to manage their own finances creates questions about the level of trust, honesty and integrity with which they would manage departmental budgets and assets,†Sangweni says.
In its report about financial misconduct in government departments the PSC says 1 042 cases, with more than two-thirds relating to fraud, were reported in the past financial year — totalling R130-million. In the department of roads and safety in Limpopo two officials are alleged to have defrauded the department of R60-million and, although they were fired, none of the money has been recovered.
In Mpumalanga an employee released R6,6-million to a contractor without following the correct procedure and the employee received a suspended sentence of three years.
In only 31% of the cases of financial misconduct have disciplinary proceedings been instituted. In most departments and provinces the number of cases of financial misconduct increased, with most cases taking place in the Western Cape. Nationally the number of cases increased by 35%.
Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape had significant decreases in the number of financial misconduct cases that were reported in the past financial year. The PSC report points to these provinces’ inability to investigate corruption cases effectively, which means offenders are never brought to book. The cost of financial misconduct increased by 186% in the past financial year.
An amendment to the Public Service Bill is proposed to ensure that public servants who resign during investigations into alleged misconduct will have it on their records that they resigned because of misconduct, even if disciplinary procedures have not been exhausted.
The worst offenders are officials of the departments of agriculture (R16-million) and foreign affairs (R13,2-million), which lost the most money through financial misconduct.