Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivered South Africa’s 2026 national budget speech in Cape Town.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
A GOVERNMENT-LED audit aimed at identifying and eliminating non-existent or ineligible individuals from the public-sector payroll has confirmed the existence of more than 4000 “ghost workers” across national and provincial departments.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the findings when he tabled the 2026 Budget during the Joint Sitting of Parliament on Wednesday.
The audit identified 4323 suspicious cases in the PERSAL system, said the minister.
“A verification process is under way and employees who cannot be physically verified will have their salaries withheld and their employment status suspended,” he said.
The issue of non-existent or ineligible individuals receiving state salaries has been one of the most striking weaknesses of public financial management.
He said a sophisticated verification process was under way to verify the “ghost workers” through identity verification tools.
“The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has begun verifying high-risk cases and developed a method that reduces the potential for employees to be flagged incorrectly as ghost workers due to administrative errors.”
Godongwana added that identified “ghost workers” will be verified using facial matching against the National Population Register and physical verification, including crosschecking results with the DPSA and Department of Basic Education ghost worker projects.
“The next phase of this project will integrate with the improvements to payroll systems and the rollout of a single sign-on for public servants. These changes will enable automated oversight, reduce irregularities and support more effective expenditure management.”
Responding to the Select Committee on Appropriations, Godongwana assured Members of Parliament that engagements are underway to finalise the timelines for this crucial verification process.
“The National Treasury notes the recommendation. A national verification process has commenced and engagements to finalise timelines for the verification process are ongoing, ensuring Parliament can exercise oversight over the outcomes,” he said.
The Select Committee on Appropriation raised the question of “ghost workers” in its report on the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement late last year.
The committee stated that Godongwana should ensure that all levels of government — from national to local — effectively participate in the employee verification process, thereby accurately quantifying the size of government employees for better budgeting and financial control.
“This process must be accompanied by clear timeframes to allow Parliament to exercise its oversight role on this process and its ultimate outcomes,” the committee had said.
Cape Times