Taxpayers paid out R5.2m in salaries for 34 social development officials to sit at home from late in 2015 until October 2018 while their future employment was under review.
All 34 were on suspension, with some of them facing serious charges such as corruption and maladministration.
This was the written reply social development MEC Phumza Dyantyi gave in response to a question put to her by the Democratic Alliance’s Kobus Botha.
In his questions Botha asked if any social development officials “have been placed on paid leave pending any investigations of corruption, mismanagement of funds, or any other reasons”.
Dyantyi revealed that 34 officials have been placed on paid leave pending the outcome of investigation. She said that “charges were proffered against these officials”.
The details show that 10 were placed on leave during the 2017/18 financial year, 22 were placed on special leave during the 2016/17 financial year and another two were placed on leave in 2014/15.
In 2015 alone two senior social workers were dismissed in the Chris Hani region after having raked in more than R1.2m in salaries while on suspension.
Botha said he was concerned that in most cases the officials appealed the verdicts. This extended their paid leave.
In 18 cases the authority had dismissed the appeals and “in a further 11 cases, officials were still waiting for their appeals to be finalised”.
Only against one senior official were charges withdrawn. The Daily Dispatch reported on the case against communications director Gcobani Maswana, who was suspended in 2016, but charges against Maswana were dropped and he was reinstated.
In her response to Botha, Dyantyi revealed that the department had forked out R894,000 in salary while Maswana sat at home. She confirmed that charges against Maswana were withdrawn on September 17.
This is the department which in the same period under review saw some state funded non-profit organisations threatening to close shop and effect job cuts due to a lack of funding from the department.
Botha said some of this money would have been better spent in providing “social welfare services to the most vulnerable and poor of our province.”
“A competent investigator must be assigned immediately to ensure that these investigations and disciplinary hearings can be finalised.
“It is clear from these figures that the department lacks effectiveness when it comes to investigations,” said Botha...