The Democratic Alliance (DA) urgently calls on the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to bring the matter of the public servant, at salary level 13, who applied for and received the R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD grant) to the attention of the Head of the relevant provincial department as well as the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA).
The DA makes this call on the back of a recent written reply, by the Minister of Social Development, Minister Zulu, to a DA parliamentary question which revealed that the public servant in question is employed as a Chief of Staff at one of the provincial departments.
The written reply further revealed that the Head of the relevant provincial department had not been informed of the fact that the public servant, in question, is one of 5812 public servants identified, by SASSA, as having benefitted from the SRD grant and that are currently under investigation by the Fusion Centre.
In addition to calling on DSD and SASSA to bring the matter to the attention of the Head of the relevant provincial department and the DPSA, the DA further calls on the Head of the relevant provincial department to place the public servant, in question, on precautionary suspension as soon as DSD and SASSA has provided the details of the investigation.
The DA makes this call on the basis that the public servant, in question, holds a senior position within the public service and further draws a salary in excess of R1 million per annum. If incidents of corruption and fraud, within the public service, are to be effectively dealt with then the axe has to fall on everyone more especially on those who are at the top and are expected to lead by example.
The DA will not rest until the implicated public servants are subjected to disciplinary and criminal processes and also pay back the money that they stole from the state.