[South Africa] Weak IT and payroll systems led to Rail Agency’s ghost employees

Weak IT and payroll systems at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) have been identified as the root cause of its costly “ghost employees” issue, ITWeb reports.

The investigation also attributed blame to incorrect data capturing of employee information, resulting in a corrupted employee database and weaknesses in PRASA’s internal control environment.

These are the preliminary findings of Project Ziveze, presented by transport minister Fikile Mbalula on November 15.

3,000 employees failed to come forward to be verified during PRASA’s voluntary staff verification project, raising suspicions about their existence, Minister Mbalula said.

“We are on course to rid PRASA of all forms of corruption. Those officials who aid and abet these dastardly deeds of corruption will face the full might of the law. We have a duty to ensure public resources are channelled towards delivering services to the citizens in a responsible and cost-effective manner.”

Project Ziveze was reportedly introduced in November 2021 to verify employees on PRASA’s payroll system and to validate whether the employment of foreign nationals is in line with the provisions of the law.

The verification project was informed by material irregularities uncovered within PRASA’s ICT systems, human capital management (HCM) and payroll.

A statement reportedly notes that during phase one of the project, all employees were invited on a voluntary basis to come forward to be verified with copies of their IDs, qualifications and the HCM employee data forms.

“During this phase, out of the 17 268 recorded employees on PRASA’s payroll system, 14 268 employees presented themselves for verification. During the same period, 1 159 employees resigned. Failure by 3 000 employees to come forward for physical verification led to suspicions that there could be a number of ghost employees at PRASA,” the minister said.

These findings resulted in PRASA commissioning the services of an independent service provider, to establish whether these were ghost employees, identify weaknesses in the PRASA system and identify culpable officials who may have colluded with people to create ghost employees.

The investigation was conducted with the support of the Department of Home Affairs, South African Revenue Service, Umalusi and the South African Qualifications Authority.

The investigation flagged 2,143 employees, who were then grouped as potential ghost employees, who could not be physically verified; employees masquerading as somebody else, thus possible identity theft; fraudulent qualifications submitted; and employees with serious criminal offences.

“The preliminary investigation revealed that 1,480 employees either cannot be physically verified and their files or documentation are non-existent, while others [1,159] resigned without the necessary supporting documentation at the start of the project. The investigation also revealed a number of instances where ID photos did not match the face of employees. This has triggered further investigations,” Minister Mbalula said.

Wage cost reduction

“Through Project Ziveze, we have been able to save PRASA approximately R200 million since the inception of the project in November 2021,” the minister added.

“Our efforts must translate into PRASA becoming a truly credible and ethical organisation that prides itself on its professional ethos and robust governance systems.”

The minister reportedly stated that urgent action will be taken to address the findings and challenges identified, to date.

PRASA will also initiate:

• A forensic investigation to conduct a deep dive on critical issues flagged in the preliminary investigation.

• A digital fingerprint and photo ID verification process with the assistance of the Department of Home Affairs. The completion of this exercise will then enable PRASA to freeze the salaries of those flagged.

• Digitisation of files and supporting documents.

• Clean-up of the employee database.

• Employees who submitted fraudulent qualifications will be served with letters to explain themselves, failing which stricter action will be taken in line with applicable prescripts.

• Criminal charges will be laid against those who have committed fraud.

Source: ITWeb

(Quotes via original reporting)

Weak IT and payroll systems at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) have been identified as the root cause of its costly “ghost employees” issue, ITWeb reports.

The investigation also attributed blame to incorrect data capturing of employee information, resulting in a corrupted employee database and weaknesses in PRASA’s internal control environment.

These are the preliminary findings of Project Ziveze, presented by transport minister Fikile Mbalula on November 15.

3,000 employees failed to come forward to be verified during PRASA’s voluntary staff verification project, raising suspicions about their existence, Minister Mbalula said.

“We are on course to rid PRASA of all forms of corruption. Those officials who aid and abet these dastardly deeds of corruption will face the full might of the law. We have a duty to ensure public resources are channelled towards delivering services to the citizens in a responsible and cost-effective manner.”

Project Ziveze was reportedly introduced in November 2021 to verify employees on PRASA’s payroll system and to validate whether the employment of foreign nationals is in line with the provisions of the law.

The verification project was informed by material irregularities uncovered within PRASA’s ICT systems, human capital management (HCM) and payroll.

A statement reportedly notes that during phase one of the project, all employees were invited on a voluntary basis to come forward to be verified with copies of their IDs, qualifications and the HCM employee data forms.

“During this phase, out of the 17 268 recorded employees on PRASA’s payroll system, 14 268 employees presented themselves for verification. During the same period, 1 159 employees resigned. Failure by 3 000 employees to come forward for physical verification led to suspicions that there could be a number of ghost employees at PRASA,” the minister said.

These findings resulted in PRASA commissioning the services of an independent service provider, to establish whether these were ghost employees, identify weaknesses in the PRASA system and identify culpable officials who may have colluded with people to create ghost employees.

The investigation was conducted with the support of the Department of Home Affairs, South African Revenue Service, Umalusi and the South African Qualifications Authority.

The investigation flagged 2,143 employees, who were then grouped as potential ghost employees, who could not be physically verified; employees masquerading as somebody else, thus possible identity theft; fraudulent qualifications submitted; and employees with serious criminal offences.

“The preliminary investigation revealed that 1,480 employees either cannot be physically verified and their files or documentation are non-existent, while others [1,159] resigned without the necessary supporting documentation at the start of the project. The investigation also revealed a number of instances where ID photos did not match the face of employees. This has triggered further investigations,” Minister Mbalula said.

Wage cost reduction

“Through Project Ziveze, we have been able to save PRASA approximately R200 million since the inception of the project in November 2021,” the minister added.

“Our efforts must translate into PRASA becoming a truly credible and ethical organisation that prides itself on its professional ethos and robust governance systems.”

The minister reportedly stated that urgent action will be taken to address the findings and challenges identified, to date.

PRASA will also initiate:

• A forensic investigation to conduct a deep dive on critical issues flagged in the preliminary investigation.

• A digital fingerprint and photo ID verification process with the assistance of the Department of Home Affairs. The completion of this exercise will then enable PRASA to freeze the salaries of those flagged.

• Digitisation of files and supporting documents.

• Clean-up of the employee database.

• Employees who submitted fraudulent qualifications will be served with letters to explain themselves, failing which stricter action will be taken in line with applicable prescripts.

• Criminal charges will be laid against those who have committed fraud.

Source: ITWeb

(Quotes via original reporting)