Not content with social grants, public servants extend their theft to the Expanded Public Works Programme

Early this year, the Minister of Public Service and Administration – Noxolo Kiviet, revealed that 5 812 civil servants irregularly benefited from the Covid-19 social relief of distress grants and 33 833 were exposed for benefiting from social grants that they were not entitled to. It has now emerged that the latest crime scene for this shameless looting from social relief programmes is the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

In a reply to a DA parliamentary question, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Development – Sihle Zikalala, revealed that R14 million meant for the EPWP programme has been lost to corruption, undeserving beneficiaries and theft over the past 10 years. This came to light following a verification process between the Department of Public Works and the Department of Public Service and Administration on the PERSAL system.

Zikalala confirmed the stolen R14 million was paid out to undeserving beneficiaries/participants, who were exposed as permanent government officials in the PERSAL system. Perhaps more shocking is that the DPWI is said to have no record of monies recovered and paid back to the State.

The DA finds this lack of recovery of the stolen money and consequence management on the offending parties unacceptable. Since those who stole from the EPWP programme were exposed through the PERSAL system, it therefore means that they are known to the Department. We will be submitting follow-up questions to Zikalala asking that he provide the DA with a concrete plan of the steps that DPWI will be taking to recover the stolen money and hold the offenders accountable.

Failure to act now will set a bad precedent and will potentially motivate those who stole EPWP money to re-offend again because they know that nothing will happen to them. We have already seen evidence of this impunity with the social grants and the Covid-19 social relief of distress grant.

With a salary of R2 235 per month for one EPWP beneficiary (although beneficiaries always say the amount is not consistent), the stolen money could have provided over 500 more employment opportunities for the unemployed. This is the human cost of corruption on South Africans and the DA will not accept the stance taken by the DPWI not to recover the stolen money and hold the thieves to account.