Province keeps idle officials on the books

FIVE senior KwaZulu-Natal government officials have been paid a total of more than R2-million for doing nothing since last year.

Now the provincial MEC in charge of their department has vowed to stop the payments.

The employees, including a deputy director of communications, an assistant director and two senior communication officers, were displaced after provincial agriculture and environmental affairs MEC Meshack Radebe took over in 2011.

Radebe said he was unaware that the salaries were still being paid and that this had happened before he became the MEC.

“I would never have allowed that to happen. Nobody ever raised the issue with me.

“We’re going to stop their salaries and we’re also going to seek legal opinion to check whether they can pay back the money.”

He said action would also be taken against the department officials who allowed this to happen.

In February last year, the officials were told they were being removed from the communications unit. According to one of the employees, who did not want to be named: “We were given letters stating that we were offered placement as administrative clerks, but when we queried how our communication skills were going to fit into administration, the letters were withdrawn.”

He said they were promised by the department that their matter would be sorted out, but this never happened.

The employee said all he did was go to the office to “collect my pay slip every month-end because we have no desk to sit on and nothing to do”.

The employees have reported their case to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union.