25 September 2025 | 11:26 CAT
3-minute read

Image: Daily Maverick Illustrative image | Sources: Ghost employee. (Photo: iStock) | Office block. (Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg via Getty Images) | South African banknotes. (Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

South Africa’s public service sector is grappling with a significant issue of ghost workers—individuals who are registered on the government’s payroll but do not perform any actual work. These fraudulent entries are estimated to cost the country over R3,9 billion annually.

In an interview on Radio Islam International, Mr Jan Naudé de Villiers, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, discussed the depth of this problem and the measures being taken to address it.

De Villiers emphasised the intentional nature of these fraudulent activities.

“It is not administrative lapses at all. It is definitely fraudulent. It is corruption. Let’s call it as it is,” he said.

He elaborated on the process, explaining that creating a ghost employee on the payroll requires collusion among at least three individuals within the system.

“To create a ghost employee on the South African payroll system takes at least three people to collude,” he noted, highlighting the organised effort behind such schemes.

The issue has been persistent, with earlier instances like the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) revealing significant numbers of ghost employees.

De Villiers pointed out that the decentralised nature of employment processes across various government departments complicates efforts to combat this fraud.

“The challenge in the state is that we have a very decentralised way of how departments employ people,” he said, underscoring the difficulty in implementing a unified strategy to address the issue.

In response to the growing concern, the National Treasury has initiated a comprehensive audit across national and provincial departments to identify and eliminate ghost workers. This audit involves cross-referencing payroll data with information from the Department of Home Affairs and other institutions to detect discrepancies such as duplicate IDs and unauthorised allowances.

De Villiers expressed optimism about the potential to resolve the issue.

“It can absolutely be fixed and it can absolutely be stopped. Because all you need is technology, which we have.”

The collaboration between various government departments aims to establish a robust system to prevent the creation of ghost employees in the future. De Villiers highlighted the importance of integrating identity verification processes into the payroll system.

“When somebody gets loaded onto the payroll system, their identity is checked, their bank accounts are checked. It checks around in the background to see if they are not already getting a salary somewhere else in government.”

This approach seeks to address the root causes of the problem and ensure accountability within the public service sector.

The issue of ghost workers is not unique to South Africa; similar challenges have been observed internationally, including in the United States.

“It is something which has come to, international light in the last year or two.” This recognition has led to increased efforts worldwide to implement stricter controls and audits to combat such fraudulent activities.

As the audit progresses, the government aims to identify the extent of the problem and take necessary actions against those responsible for creating and benefiting from ghost employees. The initiative also focuses on redesigning the payroll system to incorporate advanced verification mechanisms, thereby preventing future occurrences of such fraud.

Listen to the full interview on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Mr Jan Naudé de Villiers.