DA concerned after Gauteng govt spends more than R200m on overtime wages

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng raised their concern about after it was alleged that the Gauteng provincial government (GPG) spent more than R200 million on overtime wages over the last five years.

DA MPL Adrianna Randall said in a statement on Tuesday: “The DA is extremely concerned about the exorbitant amount of money spent on overtime by the provincial government over the last five years.”

Randall said the matter was revealed to the DA by the MECs for finance and e-government; infrastructure development and property management; education; economic development and agriculture and rural development; sports, arts, culture and recreation and social development in a written reply to the party’s questions tabled in the Gauteng provincial legislature.

According to the letter, the departments spent over R200 million for the last five financial years, which breaks down to:

• Infrastructure development and property management- R100,321,255
• Finance and e-government – R1,522,100
• Education- R75,500,000
• Economic development and agriculture and rural development- R16,460,430.57
• Social development – R3,028,823.34
• Roads and transport- R9,218,062.55

“If the trend over the last five years regarding the amount of money paid in overtime continues, it means the wage bill will not be kept at 60%,” the MPL said.

She said the matter was concerning as the economy was not doing well and in order for this to improve a directive was given by Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni to keep the wage bill at 60%.

“Where departments need to have Annual Performance Plans (APP) in place it does not appear that they are adhering to these plans. This points to poor planning by the Gauteng provincial government.

“The only way this can be mitigated is by ensuring that each and every department submits an APP that details exactly how they will be cutting down on overtime in the new financial year,” she said.

Randall said failure to do so would only lead to a wage bill that was far higher than 60%.

“The DA will be closely monitoring each department to ensure that their APPs are submitted for the 2020/2021 financial year and to determine what plans have been put in place to curb overtime spend,” she said.

(Compiled by Molefe Seeletsa)

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