R14.3bn paid in sick leave to 880 000 public servants

PUBLIC Service and Administration Minister Ayanda Dlodlo has revealed that hundreds of thousands of public servants have racked up R14.3 billion in leave taken due to ill health and incapacity in a period spanning 19 months since the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic.

The cost in the normal sick and incapacity leave excluded the benefits claimed by public servants in the Defence Department and the State Security Agency (SSA).

Dlodlo revealed this in a response to parliamentary questions from DA MP Mimmy Martha Gondwe.

Gondwe enquired about the total number of public service employees who have taken leave due to ill health and incapacity since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.

She also asked for the breakdown of the number of public servants in each national and provincial department as well as the duration of leave taken and cost of the leave for the government.

In her written response, Dlodlo said 881 152 employees have utilised normal sick leave and incapacity leave since the start of the Covid-19 – from March 2020 to October 2021.

“The total cost of the public service in respect of the normal sick leave and incapacity leave for the period amounts to R14 346 032 476,” she said. The responses showed the cost of normal leave taken during the period by 837 296 public servants in both the national and provincial departments was R11 308 991363.

The breakdown of the cost were as follows: Eastern Cape R778m; Free State R581m, Gauteng R1.7bn, KZN R1.6bn; Limpopo R894m; Mpumalanga R398m; North West R441m; Northern Cape R212m; Western Cape R830m and national departments R3.7bn.

Dlodlo’s responses also showed that a total of R3 037 041 113 was racked up in incapacity leave from 43 856 employees across the public service during the same period.

National departments’ employees took the share of the cost to the tune of R1 261 310 618, while the balance was shared among the provinces.

KZN led the provinces with incapacity leave that cost the taxpayer R442m, followed by Gauteng R360m, Eastern Cape R271m and Limpopo R133m.

Mpumalanga and Northern Cape recorded the lowest cost in incapacity leave at R71m and R81m respectively.

A total of R7.bn was forfeited in costs in annual leave not taken by 463 033 workers in 2019 and 2020.

A total of R1.8bn was forfeited in annual leave in 2019 while R5.7bn was forfeited the following year.