Cape Town - Department of the Premier director-general Harry Malila was put through his paces by members of the legislature’s standing committee on public accounts on the recurring issue of erroneous overpayments to employees.
Malila and his officials were invited to brief Scopa following concerns raised about the issue in the department’s annual report for the 2021/22 financial year, where the matter was flagged by the auditor-general, who identified it as a serious risk that could lead to fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
The department said the overpayments that occurred were due to service terminations such as resignations and deaths of employees whose salaries were already processed before payroll was informed.
Committee chairperson Lulama Mvimbi (ANC) and members Andricus van der Westhuizen and Matlhodi Maseko (both DA) wanted to know about the mitigating measures put in place to avoid a recurrence of such erroneous overpayments.
Van der Westhuizen, himself a former provincial government employee, said: “My experience was not a positive one. Not a very efficient one.
“And it relied heavily on my own honesty, and my own financial position. Fortunately, I was in a position to return that money.”
Malila assured the committee that the matter was being taken seriously and departments across the provincial government were being encouraged to notify his department when termination notifications were received, so that the service conditions team could swing into action and recall a salary or freeze a salary that was not processed.
The committee said it wanted tougher mechanisms to be put in place to recover the money, and emphasised that stern action should be taken against officials implicated.
The committee was also briefed by Provincial Forensic Services on its second-quarter forensic investigations for the 2022/23 financial year, which revealed it had 27 investigations in progress as of September 30 last year.
PFS chief director Ruthven Janse Van Rensburg said police action was recommended in five cases finalised during the first and second quarters of the period under review.
When asked by committee member Aishah Cassiem (EFF) about whether there was any follow-up with the SAPS about the cases, Van Rensburg said each case was followed up on a quarterly basis with the SAPS.
Mvimbi said: “Investigations must not be meaningless and done for the sake of compliance. They must eventually lead to successful convictions. There must be accountability for any wrongdoings in government.”