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23 Jan 2012

Six employees have been terminated from service after they failed to present themselves during the first phase of the employee headcount. When these six employees failed to present themselves, the Department opted to issue out cheques instead of the normal electronic funds transfer (EFT) method to pay their salaries. “The six employees were instructed to pick up their cheques and when they failed to do so we were left with no other option but to terminate their employment and this is what led us to come to a conclusion that they are indeed ghost employees,” said MEC Senzo Mchunu.

The mammoth headcount exercise (first phase) was rolled-out between July and August 2010. All KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Education employees had to present themselves for the headcount to identify ghost employees and put a lid on potential corruption or fraud in respect of salaries made to employees. After the initial first phase was conducted, the department noted that more than 3 000 employees had not presented themselves for the headcount due to varying reasons.

The second headcount phase was then conducted in December 2010 to give these employees a second chance to present themselves at Provincial Treasury Internal Audit. Of the more than 3 000 employees, ± 597 employees are yet to present themselves to Provincial Treasury. The ±597 employees have been given a final cut-off date of 31 January 2012 to present themselves and failure to do so will result in the freezing of their salaries. “These employees have been informed and they must bring proof of their identity document or passport, their original certificates or qualifications or certified copies thereof.

"Should they fail to present themselves to Provincial Treasury we will be left with no choice but to freeze their salaries and immediately initiate investigations into their appointments,” said MEC Senzo Mchunu.

After this exercise has been concluded, the Department will again work together with Provincial Treasury to verify the authenticity of the qualifications presented by employees during the headcount. The KZN Department of Education has over 100 000 employees which compounds the process.

Enquiries:
Mbali Thusi
Cell: 082 881 7484

Issued by: KwaZulu-Natal Education
23 Jan 2012

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