The Department of Home Affairs is rolling out a new digital tool to help the National Treasury identify ghost workers and prevent payment irregularities across government.
The online, real-time verification platform is being developed to check employee records using Home Affairs’ digital identity systems.
It is expected to go live on 15 June 2026.
Ghost workers are people who are unlawfully employed by, or receive payments from, multiple departments. In some cases, they may be former or inactive employees who still appear on payroll systems.
According to the National Treasury, ghost workers across government departments and state-owned entities cost South Africa R3.9 billion in 2025.
New platform will use biometrics
Home Affairs said the platform would support government efforts to eliminate ghost employees and payment irregularities.
The system will link to the national population register and use biometric, real-time verification to check whether government personnel records are accurate and up to date.
The department said the platform would also include “liveliness tests”, which are used to confirm that a real person is being verified.
Once launched, the verification process is expected to run for an initial two-month period across national and provincial departments.
Home Affairs said the project marked another step in its wider digital reform programme, which aims to build a more capable, secure and modern state.
Schreiber says system could save billions
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the platform could save taxpayers billions if it is used consistently.
He said the department’s enhanced biometric systems would help identify ghost workers and others involved in defrauding government payrolls.
“The application of our reform work is now consistently delivering to this new use case and demonstrates that digital transformation is laying the foundation for an entirely rebuilt state,” Schreiber said.
Treasury flags high-risk cases
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana previously said government had made progress in identifying and removing ghost workers from the public payroll.
In his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, Godongwana said government was “waging war” on ghost workers in the public service.
He said Treasury was working with the Department of Public Service Administration and Home Affairs on a data-driven approach that links systems across government.
Godongwana said the collaboration had already uncovered close to 9 000 high-risk cases that were flagged for further verification.