The North West province has spent billions of rands paying the salaries of 36,000 public servants who cannot be accounted for, says a report by the City Press.

The revelation came from the province’s premier, Supra Mahumapelo, who was addressing the standing committee on public accounts.

According to the report, North-West Province had an annual budget of R26 billion in the past financial year, with a staggering R19 billion spent on salaries versus R3 billion spent on service delivery.

In a bid to clean up the province, Mahumapelo and his team sought to keep tabs of all public servants on the province’s payroll. 36,000 “ghost” employees remained unaccounted for.

City Press reported that some of these “ghost” employees were also “promoted” along the way and their salaries had increased, which means that the official amount spent on their salaries could not be quantified.

“It is quite clear that some people are manipulating the system. There are people who are not properly employed who enter our system dubiously,” the premier was quoted saying.

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