A senior parliamentary official has revealed that corrupt government officials are demanding bribes of up to R20,000 from qualified teachers in exchange for jobs, describing it as a “syndicated and organized crime within the state.”
The allegations emerged as the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration welcomed a new nationwide investigation into “ghost teachers” and the sale of teaching posts. The investigation, to be led by the Education Labour Relations Council, is set to verify all educators and learners across the country, with an estimated completion date of the end of October.
In a radio interview, the committee’s chairperson, Jan de Villiers, expressed grave concern over the long-standing “jobs for cash” issue, noting it was first investigated as far back as 2014.
“This is one of the most tragic and worst examples of wasted state expenditure,” de Villiers stated. “We’re talking about qualified teachers who are currently unemployed… They’ve used their own funds, loans, or taxpayer subsidies to qualify, and now they are being asked to pay a bribe just to get a job they are already qualified for.”
De Villiers explained that the bribery scheme is deeply linked to the pervasive “ghost employee” scandal plaguing the state. He alleged that corrupt officials collude to create fake teaching posts—”ghost teachers”—on the government payroll system. These non-existent employees serve as placeholders, allowing the corrupt officials to then sell the positions to real, qualified teachers for a fee of R20,000 to R25,000.
“This is 100% extortion,” De Villiers declared. “They are stealing not only taxpayer money but also service delivery. They are stealing money that is meant to teach children, to educate them, to empower them.”
He emphasized that maintaining a ghost employee on the system is a sophisticated operation requiring the collusion of multiple officials to create and sustain the fraudulent records.
While the problem is widespread across all levels of government, De Villiers was adamant that the culprits are a “small minority of state officials” and not representative of the vast majority of hardworking public servants.
The chairperson welcomed the investigation and new audits announced by the Minister and National Treasury but stressed that identification alone is not enough.
“It doesn’t help just finding the ghost employees. People need to be prosecuted… Thorough investigations need to be done, and people need to go to jail,” he said, calling for referrals to law enforcement agencies like the Hawks.
Concluding the interview, De Villiers framed the fight against this corruption as essential to national transformation. “How do we end poverty? How do we empower our society? Well, I say we do that by proper service delivery,” he stated, arguing that a professional, merit-based public service is the key to unlocking South Africa’s potential.