The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) has applauded a nationwide inquiry into allegations of ghost workers in the public schooling system.
The Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) has been appointed to investigate the allegations, by the teacher unions, together with the government, represented by the Department of Basic Education and the nine provincial Departments of Education.
The ELRC said it’ll probe the “physical verification of educators and learners, to address the allegations regarding the existence of ghost workers in the sector, a forensic investigation to address the allegations on the selling of posts.”
SADTU said the probe is long overdue, adding that it signals a collective commitment to root out corruption and restore trust in public education payroll.
“Ghost workers are not an administrative hiccup, they represent orchestrated criminal syndicates that siphon scarce public resources into private pockets.
Every phantom name on the payroll diverts funds away from real educators and learners, starving classrooms of materials, crippling learner support programmes, and undermining hard won gains in educational equity.
The syndicates steal the future of our nation,” said the union spokesperson, Nomusa Cembi.
Furthermore, Cembi condemned the selling of teaching posts, adding that it corrodes merit and professionalism in the sector.
When positions are sold to the highest bidder, capable educators are shut out, morale plummets, and our collective mission to deliver quality public education is compromised.
These linked practices, ghost workers and selling posts form a network of corruption that inflicts
harm on our most vulnerable children and erodes the foundations of democracy in our schools,” explained Cembi.
SADTU has urged its members to support the probe, avail themselves for physical verification, forensic audit, and to expose corrupt syndicates.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Jan de Villiers, has also welcomed the probe.
“Ghost employees represent one of the most blatant forms of waste and addressing it must be a top priority if we are to restore the public’s confidence in government and deliver quality services.
We have consistently said that eliminating ghost workers depends on rigorous, in-person verification of all employees, supported by biometric identification.
Current payroll systems and internal controls remain vulnerable to manipulation, and the committee has previously called for an overhaul of these systems to prevent this,” said de Villiers.
The ELRC said the probe will also verify the identities of pupils, educators, and will be completed by the end of October 2025.
