Public sector employees are still feeding off the state
A Treasury report cites R8bn paid to 2,349 businesses involving state employees, which the DA calls ‘shocking’ and a ‘gross violation’ of the Public Service Act
Public-sector employees continue to do significant amounts of business with the state despite it being prohibited because of the conflict of interest involved. An amount of R8bn was paid to 2,349 businesses in which state employees were involved between April 1 2017 and end-January 2018. These suppliers had 2,704 state employees listed on the government’s central supplier database as owners, directors or non-executive directors. They were employees of national and provincial governments, some municipalities and three public entities. The figures were disclosed in a report by Treasury on state employees conducting business with government as at February 2018, which was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. A total of 28,427 state employees were registered as owners, directors or non-executive directors of businesses on the database, which is operated by the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer. "It is safe to say that the numbers of employees identified to be own...
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