The National Treasury has officially started removing almost 9,000 ghost workers from the government’s payroll as part of a sweeping effort to enhance efficiency and cut wasteful expenditure.
In the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on Wednesday, the department revealed that 8,854 cases had been flagged where individuals were receiving payments from multiple government departments.
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The move forms part of the Treasury’s broader savings initiative, designed to strengthen financial discipline within the public sector and ensure that taxpayer funds are used responsibly.
Ghost Worker Probe Uncovers Salary Irregularities
According to the Treasury, the ghost worker elimination programme has uncovered cases where individuals continued drawing salaries despite being inactive or linked to suspicious banking activity.
The process has also identified people appearing on multiple government systems.
Godongwana said the initiative is not limited to payroll clean-ups, noting that it also seeks to address social grant fraud and what he described as “double dipping”.
However, Treasury Director-General Dr Duncan Pieterse emphasised that the reported figures still require verification.
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“So, what we’ve done there is work closely with the South African Revenue Service in terms of the tax data and using the confidential and anonymous tax data,” Pieterse explained.
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He added that the total amount of money lost to ghost workers will only be determined once the verification process is complete.
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