BL Premium reports on performance bonus scandal at the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), an entity of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), which saw its top brass, including its acting CEO, award themselves bonuses to the exclusion of scores of workers who qualified for the scheme.

Seemingly, about 60 workers who qualified for the scheme were intentionally excluded from the performance bonuses that were paid in December 2023. This was after TIA top brass decided to hike the qualification ratings for the bonus scheme to ensure a bigger pie for themselves and other employees, against the entity’s policy. The policy says that for employees to be considered for a performance bonus, their performance must be rated at least at three out of a score of five. But when the performance appraisals were completed, some of TIA’s executives and board members decided to increase the qualification rating to 3.6 – a decision that excluded more than 50 workers. The excluded workers approached the CCMA, which ruled in their favour. TIA then diverted money from the funding for innovation projects to pay the disgruntled workers their performance bonuses, to the tune of nearly R4m. But, the money paid to the workers after the CCMA award was not budgeted for, so rightly the people who were paid inflated bonuses in December should have been forced to return portions that were unduly paid to them. But, a TIA spokesperson stated: “No irregular expenditure occurred and no further corrective actions were necessary following the resolution. The performance bonuses were paid in line with the board-approved performance management policy.”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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