DA names and shames fraudsters
Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance made public a list of 1 792 names on Thursday of public servants found guilty of receiving social grants to which they were not entitled.
It sent the list to the media in spite of a request from Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya for confidentiality.
Skweyiya had provided the names to the DA in response to a parliamentary question.
DA MP Mike Waters said: "The government has developed a tendency to hide from the public important information about the state of our country.
"We find it strange and somewhat offensive that the minister would ask the DA to be complicit in this kind of behaviour."
'Should be considered confidential'
In his full reply, a copy of which was made available by the DA, the minister asked parliament to apply discretion in the publication of the information.
"The content of the reply is comprehensive and should be considered as confidential," he had said.
The DA committed itself to respecting the confidentiality of information putting the nation's security at risk.
But, information on corruption, it said, should never be swept under the carpet.
"We understand that the individuals named in the minister's reply were caught stealing and agreed to sign admissions of guilt.
"It is perhaps appropriate, therefore, that they have not been charged criminally, but the state's generosity should not extend to protecting their anonymity."
Taxpayers had a right to know who had been stealing their money, said Waters.
On Wednesday, the DA said the 1 792 were not being charged interest on repayments of the stolen money. They were also not required to pay a fine and were given "extremely lenient" repayment plans.
"In some cases, people can take as long as 31 years to repay the amount owed."
The individuals owed a combined total of just under R11 million. Of the group, 241 were employed by the police service.
There also were 425 teachers, nine school principals, 29 education specialists and seven legal-support services personnel.
The DA said one thief, who earned a salary of R91 278 a year, was repaying an amount of R74 801 in R200 monthly instalments. It would take him 31 years and two months.
To date, two of the 1792 individuals had repaid their debt in full. Thirty-five were required to make a once-off payment, but had not yet done so.
Any public servant who could not immediately repay stolen money should be charged market-related interest on the amount, the DA contended.
All stolen moneys must be repaid in 36 months, and guilty parties also should be fined.
No mention made of interest
Skweyiya's office on Wednesday denied it applied double standards in dealing with fraudulent public servants.
It made no mention in a statement of whether interest was charged on sums to be repaid, or if fines were imposed on fraudsters.
The decision to prosecute or not rested with the prosecuting authority, the ministry said.
In the 1 792 cases listed, it added, repayment arrangements were made for periods of between 36 and 60 months depending on the debt owed and the guilty party's income.
News source: www.news24.co.za
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