Question NW779 to the Minister of Finance
28 June 2021 - NW779
Motsepe, Ms CCS to ask the Minister of Finance
What total amount has his department recouped over the past five financial years from the pension funds of public servants who were fired for defrauding the State?
Reply:
It is not a function of the National Treasury to recover such amounts but well that of the related department. Once any formal processes in such cases have been concluded, and if it has been found that the department is to recoup monies from an individual or entity, then a debt must be recorded by the department on its financial system. It is only when such records are contained in systems controlled by the National Treasury that some report can be provided but again the correctness and completeness of such report will rely solely on the full and correct information submitted by the department itself.
Of such systems that National Treasury maintain, 84 individuals were identified from 17 National and Provincial Departments for the financial years 2016/17 – 2020/21 where cases were recorded on the Personnel and Salary System (Persal) where it relates to financial misconduct. The total amount of R 23 449 484,48 was recorded during this period on Persal where it relates to these cases where 13 individuals were dismissed.
The data for these cases and related individuals identified through Persal as per the above was then used to identify the appropriate recording of the related debt on the Basic Accounting System (BAS). Information for 46 officials of the 84 identified in Persal was captured in BAS with a debt take on amount of R 479 801,28. Of the take on amount recorded in BAS, R 385 697,91 has been recovered. The information is based on the appropriate recording of the data on BAS. And it must be emphasised that the correctness and completeness of this information is based on the appropriate recording of the data by the related institutions.