The Polokwane Municipality in Limpopo has lost over R200 million paid to ghost workers and for excessive overtime. This was revealed by the law firm Bowmans-Gilfillan’s forensic report commissioned by the city.
The municipality is instituting disciplinary action and has opened criminal cases against officials implicated in what is deemed systemic corruption.
A two-year forensic investigation has revealed that the Polokwane municipality has 44 employees with fictitious and unverifiable identity documents.
The report also indicates that some permanent employees hold multiple positions within the municipality. It blames a lack of oversight by management.
The municipality has started with measures to verify employees.
Polokwane Municipality’s spokesperson Thipa Selala says, “Employees that are unverified by the municipality should come up with measures to verify those employees. We cannot directly say they are ghost employees; it is just a limitation of data and inaccuracies of data so when the investigations happened the employees did not avail themselves to verify their details.”
The municipality has also suffered a loss of R128 million due to excessive overtime claims. These involved over 300 employees, some of whom claimed overtime while on leave.
Thipa says, “What we will do now is. We will furnish you with the information once the steps have been taken but the office of the municipal manager is busy implementing such measures as directed by the special council meeting.”
Opposition parties in the Polokwane municipal council want action taken against the officials implicated.
Democratic Alliance Councillor Jacques Joubert says, ” For this Bowman’s report, we want real action taken with regards to ghost workers we need an electronic system which is manageable where managers can have direct access and verify.”
EFF Provincial Chairperson, Lawrence Mapoulo says “We hope that the same ghost workers are investigated or try to be verified by the people who are in good standing in terms of their academic qualifications.”
Furthermore, the report revealed that some contractors colluded with officials to steal equipment from the municipality storeroom and later sell them to the municipality at a higher price.
The report recommended disciplinary action and criminal cases be instituted against senior officials involved in the alleged corruption.
The #PolokwaneMunicipality has lost over R200-million paid to ghost workers as well as excessive overtime between 2014&2022. A forensic report found that the municipality has 44 employees with fictitious and unverifiable identity documents. #SABCNEWS
— rhulani baloyi (@rhulani1baloyi) October 29, 2024