The department of public service & administration is attempting to clamp down on the use of precautionary suspensions for disciplinary purposes to reduce the cost to the state.
Public service & administration minister Mzamo Buthelezi said, in a written reply to a parliamentary question by DA MP Frederik Badenhorst, that the cumulative cost of precautionary suspensions for the first two quarters of this financial year was about R49m for national departments and R93.4m for provincial departments.
In the previous financial year, by the end of the fourth quarter, the total suspension costs stood at R50.9m for national departments and R108m for provincial departments. There were now 288 active suspension cases in national departments and an additional 183 in provincial departments.
There are cases of public servants having been on suspension for as long as five years in one case, while earning a salary. In September, in reply to another question, Buthelezi said of the 471 government employees on paid suspension, 54 had been suspended for more than a year.
“Precautionary suspensions within the public service continue to be an area of serious concern, both in terms of cost and operational impact,” Buthelezi said.
“These suspensions carry a significant financial burden, not only on departmental budgets but also on public funds that could be allocated to essential services. The cumulative expenses associated with prolonged suspensions highlight the need for disciplined and efficient resolution processes.”
Buthelezi said his ministry was strongly urging departments to address and manage precautionary suspension cases within the stipulated 60-day period to prevent unwarranted expenses and to uphold the integrity of public service operations.
“The department of public service & administration also remains resolute in its commitment to enforce accountability while also streamlining disciplinary processes and safeguarding public resources from unnecessary expenditure due to such prolonged suspensions.”
Buthelezi said his department did not engage or incur costs for external service providers to handle overdue suspension cases, though individual departments could acquire specialist services through their own supply chain management processes.
Replying to another question on the same topic by MK MP Edward Nzimande, whether any measures would be taken to deter officials who kept employees on suspension beyond the prescribed periods, Buthelezi said doing so was a priority for his department.
The ministry had established norms and standards that regulated the suspension process to guard against potential abuse.
As from April 1 this year, the department implemented a directive on discipline management in the public service which stipulated that suspensions had to adhere to specific criteria, and if no hearing was conducted within 60 days of an employee’s suspension, the suspension automatically lapsed and the employee was expected to return to work. The aim was to ensure the prompt resolution of cases.
Failure to comply with the directive constituted misconduct.
“The ministry, however, does not have the direct authority to impose sanctions on heads of department who do not adhere to these regulations — instead, such cases are escalated, with relevant cases referred to the appropriate authorities,” Buthelezi said.
In terms of labour court precedents, any extension of a precautionary suspension beyond 60 days has to be formally justified in writing by the inquiry’s chair and Buthelezi said the department had adopted this practice.
Long-overdue suspensions were monitored and the cases were reported to the auditor-general.
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