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The department of home affairs has developed a new real-time digital employee verification platform for the National Treasury, aimed at rooting out ghost workers and curbing payroll fraud in government departments.
The online system is scheduled to go live on June 15 and will initially run for two months across national and provincial government departments.
The initiative is part of the government’s wider digital transformation drive and efforts to tighten accountability in the public sector.
According to home affairs, ghost employees and payment irregularities cost about R3.9bn last year.
The platform uses the department’s digital identity verification technology and is linked to the national population register. It allows for biometric verification and “liveness” testing, a process designed to confirm that a person is physically present and matches official identity records in real time.
The system is intended to verify that employee information held by government departments is accurate, current and legitimate. Home affairs said the project marks another step in its reform programme, which focuses on using technology to modernise government systems, strengthen governance and improve service delivery.
Home affairs minister Dr Leon Schreiber said the platform could help protect billions in taxpayer money if applied consistently across the government.
“If used consistently, this platform has the power to save South African taxpayers billions of rand by leveraging the power of enhanced biometric systems to identify ghost employees and others involved in defrauding government payrolls,” said Schreiber.
He said the technology demonstrated how the department’s digital reforms were expanding beyond immigration and civic services into broader state functions.
“The application of the digital capabilities ... shows that the digital transformation of home affairs is laying the foundation for an entirely rebuilt state, with the benefits being felt widely across government and society,” said Schreiber.
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