ELM fleet seized over alleged unpaid overtime

VANDERBIJLPARK – There was chaos and confusion at the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) offices last week as disgruntled employees demanded the extreme action of seizing municipal assets due to alleged unpaid overtime.
On Tuesday, the sheriff of the court swooped in and seized a whopping 60 vehicles from various depots across the municipality, intensifying the already heated dispute between the workers and the struggling local authority. This jaw-dropping action, which saw 30 private vehicles and 30 trucks being impounded, follows a court order in favour of the unhappy municipal workers.
Insiders reveal that after endless negotiations and failed attempts to resolve the debacle, the workers decided they had enough.
Desperate and fed up, several employees from the traffic and fire departments spoke to Sedibeng Ster, sharing their heart-breaking stories under a veil of anonymity as they feared a backlash from management. “We are tired of working for free! We invest our time and when the municipality should pay us, they play games,” said one furious employee. While shocking, this incident is not the first time ELM has made unsavoury headlines of having its assets seized due to non-payment. Eskom and Rand Water have in the past gone the legal route in order to force the municipality to pay.
Recently, the municipality apparently shelled out a staggering R55,315,741.84 in a bitter legal battle with an employee over unfair labour practices related to interim allowance benefits.
The bomb was dropped by Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mzi Khumalo, in a written reply to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. In a bid to calm the storm, ELM spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni, said: “The matter has been amicably resolved between the parties in dispute and the misunderstanding clarified.
As we speak, the assets are back with the municipality, and we are finalising a binding agreement between the parties involved.”
Sedibeng Ster can, however, exclusively disclose that the vehicles were still at the sheriff’s storage at printing time, casting doubt on the supposed resolution.