​The Gauteng Department of Health's (GDoH) campaign to bust ghost employees out of the system has resulted in the freezing of the salaries of 188 employees.
At the end of April 2025, the department concluded its province-wide programme called Ziveze (Reveal Yourself) Campaign which was initiated in October 2024 to confirm if the 85 642 employees currently on the department's payroll can be accounted for. 
The programme involved an extensive internal campaign which was also run in the media to ensure that no one was left behind.
The verification process was aimed at ensuring that all employees are actively working, and that their records match the Department's official staff establishment. Through this initiative, the Department seeks to improve accountability, prevent fraudulent salary payments and optimise resource allocation for quality healthcare delivery.
After six months of running the campaign about 188 people had not come through to do physical verification prompting the department to freeze their salaries at the end of April.
"Some employees did not take the initiative seriously despite constant awareness drives others had other reasons. Now that the department has acted, some have since come forward to be verified.
Employees whose salaries have been frozen have been given a chance to make formal submissions with supporting documents giving reasons why they have not complied with the process and why the salary suspension should be lifted. This must be supported by their respective HR managers and signed off by the CEOs," explains Motalatale Modiba, GDoH head of communication.
Modiba pointed out that those that still do not come to verify even after the salary freeze their matter will be subjected to further investigation so that the Department can start the process of recuperating the monies paid as this might mean that we are dealing with a ghost employee.
Ghost employees contribute to a high cost of fraudulent employee payments in organisations globally. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners released the 12th edition of their report titled Occupational Fraud 2022: A Report to the Nations, in this report they found that ghost employees were one of the most prevalent types of occupational fraud and that payroll fraud amounted to 8% of reported cases.