The Star writes that the trend of the Gauteng government paying suspended employees to stay at home doing nothing is getting worse, with R75.7m blown in the past seven years on salaries of officials placed on precautionary suspension.  

The Public Service Commission (PSC) has slammed the administration of Premier David Makhura (and the previous administration) for failing to ensure efficient and effective use of resources on good human resource management and career development practices.  The amount of funds spent on precautionary suspension increased by 10% in 2016/17 compared to 2015/16, and the amount paid to officials placed on suspension for a period more than required increased by 4%, the PSC’s ‘State of the Public Service in Gauteng 2017’ report shows.  It also reveals that 607 cases of financial misconduct amounting to over R1.26bn were reported in Gauteng government departments.  The PSC found that grievances and disciplinary hearings not being concluded within time-frames was one of the provincial government’s “fundamental recurring systemic challenges.”  For every 41 officials placed on precautionary suspensions, only six officials were invited to attend disciplinary hearings within the prescribed 60 days.

• Read this report by Loyiso Sidimba in full at The Star

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page