The Westonaria Local Municipality has come under fire once again after it allegedly refused to pay its employees for overtime hours put in over the Festive Season.
This comes from the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) shop steward in Westonaria, Dumisani Chiya who says it is an old trick of the municipality to want to take advantage of not only its residents but also its employees.
“The municipality does not want to pay us and we feel exploited.
“We’ve done our part over the Festive Season as far as our jobs are concerned and we have not received a single cent owed to us.
“They want free labour from us and that is never going to happen,” says Chiya.
He adds that the union has sent two letters to the Westonaria Local Municipality management regarding the matter and to date, there has been no response.
“We gave them five working days to respond to our demands but we have not heard from them.
“This is evident of their disregard for workers.
“We want the money owed to us or else we will go on strike,” warns Chiya.
He adds that currently, all the affected parties have suspended their overtime services until further notice.
The staff members included are those from the traffic department, water and sewerage as well as the electrical department.
What this means is that there will be no traffic officers to attend to accident scenes in Westonaria after hours.
This also means that those who might be in need of the water and sewerage, as well as electrical services will have to be patient and wait until the following day.
The Herald has contacted the Westonaria municipal spokesperson Kgabane Madiehe who denies these claims and says that the municipality has paid all its workers for overtime hours put in December and January.
“These claims are baseless and they know it.
“We have paid all employees for overtime hours put in.
“The reality is that some workers abuse overtime and they tend to think that they are entitled to inflated overtime claims.
“Some would even claim over 60 hours per month and according to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act Chapter 10 (1a)ii, an employer may not require or permit an employee to work overtime except in accordance with an agreement of ten hours overtime a week,” says Kgabane.
He adds that some workers even claim more than what they are earning.
“This greediness is not good for council because then the budget intended for service delivery and other projects will have to be diverted to these employees for work not done.
“Therefore I maintain that their claims are baseless, however, we are engaging with Samwu to try and resolve this issue,” says Madiehe.
