29 Jul 2025

Government has eliminated fictitious employees on its payroll who were fraudulently receiving salaries.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, Permanent Secretary to the President, Ms Emma Peloetletse admitted of an alarming number of government ghost employees and salary overpayments in recent times adding that efforts to eliminate and crackdown on the perpetrators were bearing fruits.

“I must admit that government does not have the agility to stop some of the things, and the processes of removing previous or retired employees from the payroll were slow thus resulting in salary overpayments and ghost employees,” she said.

Ms Peloetletse said that decentralisation and corporatisation of public service was expected to address some of the challenges more effectively, citing that the current centralised system made it difficult to track and deal with culprits at the local level. “The corporatisation of the government department through centralisation of functions would play a positive role in cutting off some of the red tapes that hinders productivity at government departments,” she said.

Ms Peloetletse also decried service providers who often inflate prices when dealing with government. 

She said some suppliers blamed price inflation on government delay on payments which ultimately affects their operations.

In an effort to address the supplier’s price inflation, 

Ms Peloetletse said government would introduce e-procurement system as well as the establishment of price guides to prevent exuberant prices.

She admitted that there was low moral within the civil service, which she attributed to many factors, among them transfers, progression and delay in labour disputes resolution. 

The permanent secretary to the president said there was nonetheless a unit at Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) established to track and speed up addressing of employees’ grievances.

Ms Peloetletse also informed PAC that she was aware of the more than 600 cases from the public service lodged with the Ombudsman’s office in the year under review. 

She admitted to delay in filling up the Auditor General position, which had been vacant for over two years.

“I take full responsibility for the Auditor General position remaining vacant for over two years and will like to rest assure the committee that the position will be filled in a month,” she stated. 

Ms Peloetletse comments came as a result of PAC’s members concerns that government made salary overpayments of over P19 million in 2021-2022.

PAC members also criticised government of remunerating some employees who had been absconding from work dating back from 2019 up to now. 

In her response the PSP vowed to take up all the concerns to the Performance Management Forum. ENDS