Letter: Sick Eastern Cape employees robbing taxpayers

IT was reported that 12 000 employees of the Eastern Cape government are on permanent sick leave for anywhere between three months and six years and all are drawing full salaries. We are not even counting ghost employees and suspended employees. No wonder the place is dysfunctional.

Premier Masualle, you said they must do the right thing and resign. I say to you Premier, you do the right thing and fire the lot. You won’t be doing this for the unemployed youth of the Eastern Cape; you would be doing this since it is the right thing to do. And charge these people for fraud – only jail time will prevent continued abuse of the system. And you would be doing it for the hard-pressed taxpayers, who have to work their fingers to the bone to pay their taxes, which go to pay the salaries of your employees.

If you want to create jobs for the youth, create an environment which is conducive to business and investment so that real, tax-paying, sustainable private sector jobs are created. Government should be the last port of call for jobs, not the first.

And use some of the R58-billion you were given by the taxpayer for fixing the road and civil infrastructure in your province. Cut out the red tape and remove the cadres who are mismanaging your educational and health departments and your municipalities. That would be the only way to create sustainable jobs and a functioning province.

We have a public sector bill of R470-billion for 1.3 million employees, which translates to R360 000 per employee. Multiply that by 12 000 and we have a total waste of R4.3-billion per annum, ie. 7.5% of your total budget. That is equivalent to 17 Nkandlas a year!

That is only one province controlled by the ANC. Then add the billions from overpricing and tender fraud and other corrupt activities. Just imagine how many Nkandlas the whole country is stealing every year.