MM says municipality ran out of money to pay overtime
“It is correct. The staff were not consulted." - MM
Municipal Manager, Musi Mayisela conceded staff were not informed of the financial situation beforehand, nor were they warned they would not be paid all of the overtime due to them, and explained why.
“It is correct. The staff were not consulted,” he admitted.
“When we were paying salaries, we ran out of money. We were hoping enough money would come in on Monday (September 23) when more residents paid their bills, to allow us to pay the rest of the overtime, but up until the end of Monday, we did not have enough. Tuesday was a public holiday, so I was unable to reach the staff.
“On Wednesday [pay day], I called them in early and asked them for understanding. I promised we would pay the remainder of the overtime hours as we get money in, but the staff said they wanted their money immediately.”
Mayisela said his words were taken out of context when he addressed staff members early on Wednesday (September 25) morning.
“They said I told them they should not complain this month about overtime, because next month we may not be able to pay salaries at all.
“What I actually said was we should work together to ensure the municipality runs smoothly, so we don’t have a situation where unhappy residents don’t want to pay their bills next month. This would make our financial situation even worse than it already is, “ he stated.
“The Speaker also addressed them. She informed them there was a council meeting that day and she would speak to the Mayor about the situation and give the staff feedback.
“The Mayor never refused to engage staff, but then the staff came through and used council resources to block all the exits. At that stage, the Strategic Executive Director of Technical Services spoke to the staff from his department and assured them he would deal with the matter, but the staff from Community Services chose to remain at the protest.”
Asked to comment on the allegations that a security guard fired his pistol at one of the protesters, Mayisela replited, “I can’t say for sure what happened, because I did not see it for myself, but I can say the bodyguards are highly trained.
“Had he aimed for a particular individual, that person would have died.”
Mokoena believes the municipality may either hire more staff to clean the town, or it will bring in an outside contractor to do the work until the situation is resolved.
“We believe that whatever happens, even if the municipality hires new people, the process will not be fair.
“If they choose to hire outside contractors, how will the municipality justify the expense if it can’t afford to pay the staff the overtime they worked?” she asked.
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