Question NW1109 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
25 April 2022 - NW1109
Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)What is the progress of each investigation and/or disciplinary hearing for public servants who fraudulently applied for the R350 Social Relief of Distress grant; (2) Whether any of the public servants who are currently being investigated and/or facing a disciplinary hearing have offered to pay back the money that they have received; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) What will be the consequences for those public servants who are found to have unlawfully applied for and/or received the R350 grant?
Reply:
1. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) received files of 154 public servants who are alleged to have fraudulently applied for the R350 grant from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on 11 March 2022. The DPSA has requested SASSA to assist with the drafting of charges before engaging the affected departments. The Fusion Centre met on the 25th March 2022, where the DPSA put the matter on the agenda for discussion. The meeting resolved that the DPSA should continue with the distribution of these files to the affected departments without the draft charges. Once the files are distributed, the DPSA will continue monitoring progress in the disciplinary proceedings as discipline management is a decentralised function.
2. The DPSA has not received any information regarding public servants who are currently being investigated and/or facing a disciplinary hearing. The DPSA believes that all public funds that accrue wrongly to anyone should be recovered.
3. The DPSA views these as serious allegations and anticipates that the affected departments will be calling for the maximum allowable sanction allowable in the disciplinary code. However, the DPSA cannot pre-empt the outcome of disciplinary hearings as each case is dealt on its merit.