By Nthambeleni Gabara
*** PHOTO: Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi, MP is the Minister for the Public Service and Administration ***
The precautionary suspension report of public servants shows a decline on the amount paid for suspended employees by government at the end of March 2025.
This was revealed by the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) recently while setting the record straight and clarifying misleading media reports purporting that government has spent R800 million paying employees on precautionary suspensions.
“The DPSA wishes to correct misleading information in the media regarding the suspension of public servants. The media reports in question create an inaccurate impression about the applicable processes and framework governing suspensions, and it is therefore, important to clarify the relevant provisions and procedures to ensure that the public is correctly informed.
“The information on the current precautionary suspension is based on the 3rd quarter (October to December 2025) report of 2025/26 financial year.
“This means that at the end of 2022, the total amount paid for suspensions was R281 million. [However], at the end of March 2025, this amount was R 204 million and not R800 million as reported in the media space,” read the media statement issued by the DPSA.
Status on dismissals
Reports received from government departments reflect that at the end of December 2025; a total of 674 officials (out of 1.3 million employees) were on precautionary suspension/transfers across the public service.
A total of 158 those cases were completed within the 90 days period, while 516 cases progressed beyond the 90 days period. According to the DPSA, 243 cases are from national departments, while the remaining 273 cases are from provincial governments.
Most of the 516 cases are reported to be still under the 12 months period, while nine (9) cases are reported to be longer than 12 months.
The DPSA media statement further indicates that five cases are longer than 24 months, adding that most of the employees are on precautionary transfer as per the prescripts of the newly adopted Directive on Discipline Management.
The DPSA’s Unit responsible for establishing norms and standards for discipline management in the public service, the Public Administration Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit (PAEIDTAU) detected one suspension that is longer than 6 years at the Department of Women and Persons with Disabilities.
The official is not sitting at home, but is still at work, as the employer placed the official on precautionary transfer. Therefore, the DPSA said there is no monetary loss attributed to the case as the official is still on duty, however, transferred to another section, while the disciplinary processes unfold.
lDPSA has been alerted to another long suspension in the Gauteng Provincial government, which is being followed up.
Common causes for the delays as reported to the DPSA:
1. Non-availability of initiators/chairpersons.
2. Regular postponements and appeals.
3. Complexity of cases.
4. Lack of capacity and capability.
Government departments with most suspensions
The Department of Correctional Services is leading the list with 134 suspensions, followed by the South African Police Service, Home Affairs and the Department of Higher Education and Training.
The provincial government with the most suspended public servants is Kwazulu-Natal (71), followed by the Eastern Cape (50), Mpumalanga (41) and Western Cape (39).
The DPSA took the following measures to address discipline management
In 2023, a Discipline Management Strategy, adopted to address challenges identified during an assessment of the discipline management situation in the public service as captured in a Diagnostic Report, namely outdated norms and: A Guide on Discipline Management, a Directive on Discipline Management (addressing suspensions and requesting transfers) and the review of the Disciplinary Code of 2003, that is currently serving at the PSCBC.
Technical Interventions: The department conducted interventions to reduce the number of backlogs in precautionary suspensions by targeting departments with a high number of cases as well as higher cost.
The PAEIDTAU embarked on an intervention on Case Backlog Project commenced on 27 October 2023 and ended on 6 December 2023, involving 7 National and 21 Provincial departments. With the direct intervention of the PAEIDTAU, the average resolution of suspension cases increased to 53% at the end of December 2023.
Follow-ups were initiated in January 2024 with the heads of departments (HODs) and additional responses were solicited from departments.
The PAEIDTAU embarked on another intervention on Case Backlog Project in Q2 of 2024. The precautionary suspensions Backlog Project commenced on 1 October 2024 and ended on 29 November 2024, and targeted cases of members of Senior Management Services.
The intervention cases were 66, and 36 (53%) resolved and uplifted. Follow-ups initiated in January 2025 with the heads of departments (HODs) and additional responses received from departments.
Operational support: The DPSA continues to monitor progress of cases and has committed in the Annual Performance Plan (APP) to analyse reports and follow the trends identified.
There are also plans, as per instruction of Cabinet, to address provinces with higher numbers of misconduct cases and a failure to conclude cases.