The Council of Makana Municipality was unanimous in its calls to clamp down on the municipality’s highly inflated overtime budget as a result of workers who are hell-bent on neglecting their duties during the day so they can start work after hours to claim for overtime.
The Council of Makana Municipality was unanimous in its calls to clamp down on the municipality’s highly inflated overtime budget as a result of workers who are hell-bent on neglecting their duties during the day so they can start work after hours to claim for overtime.
Mayor Nomhle Gaga told the meeting that overtime spending was currently sitting at 223 percent of the budget. Makana Municipality’s overtime budget for 2016-17 is sitting at R1 127 585. In the Council meeting it also emerged that the municipality has already spent R2 504 187 on overtime for the first quarter of the 2016-17 financial year.
Leading the charge in her opening remarks Council Speaker Yandiswa Vara said a matter that is of great concern for many councillors is the poor supervision and the subsequent abuse of overtime. “Council took a clear decision on overtime with an intent to reduce it. But according to the latest report the expenditure on overtime has reached high and unacceptable proportions,” she said.
Vara attributed this to lack of supervision. She said this can only be an indication that supervisors and managers are not properly managing overtime. “Thus they are failing the Council on its decision to reduce overtime,” she said.
Vara told the Council that a breakdown by directorate and unit on overtime expenditure must be submitted in the next Council meeting in order for Council to ascertain which directorate is not properly managing overtime.
DA caucus leader Mlindi Nhanha also expressed concern over the high amount of overtime on the municipal budget.
Nhanha said employees were using overtime as an extra income to augment their incomes. He suggested that the leadership of the municipality engage with organised labour.
'Someone must account'
“Our unions need to understand that workers claiming unwarranted overtime will collapse the municipality and eventually lead to the municipality being unable to pay for anything,” he said.
ANC ward councillor Luyanda Nase also called for tough action and the use of legislation to curb overtime. “This must be controlled and condemned. Policies cannot be kept in the drawer, they must be used. Someone must account,” he said.
ANC Chief Whip Mabhuti Matyumza also added his voice to the growing concern over overtime. Matyumza said: “We make decisions in Council but there is no monitoring.”
Vara also came down hard on municipal employees who abuse municipal property. She said this is another matter that reflects badly on the municipality.
“Not that all the other (issues) are not serious but the abuse of municipal vehicles must come to an end. This does not only happen during day but right into the dead of night, with some of the drivers allegedly drunk,” she said.
Focusing her attention on the importance of a municipality as an institution to serve its residents. Vara also wanted to be informed about what most municipal employees were doing most of the day all over the town during pay day. “The pay day is a normal working day. It should be treated as such.”
'In essence the municipality shuts down during the lunch hour'
She added that the municipality was a public institution. “The public are our employers. The Councillors as well as the officials. We are therefore here to serve the public at all times, from 8am to 4.30 in the afternoon. But how many times have I come into the Main Administration building and all the offices are closed with officials gone out to lunch. I have observed the same practice is happening at Directorate of Technical and Infrastructural Services. In essence the municipality shuts down during the lunch hour. This does not make sense because it is exactly during that time of the day when a lot of our clients are on lunch and they use that time to come to the municipality seeking our services,” she said.
Vara said this needed to come to an end. “This must come to an immediate stop. From now on one or two officials should remain behind during the lunch hour to serve our people. Thus a rotational system on how the officials should take their lunch must be worked out and introduced. Acting Municipal Manager may you facilitate such an initiative as a corrective measure,” she said.
Vara also applauded dedicated employees.
“In the same breath let me applaud all the workers who are doing their work dedicatedly. Keep up the good work.”
She said of importance is for the new Council to be able to set out a clear programme of action containing what they have set themselves to do during the first 100 days in office. “This will then be reported on when the appropriate timeframe has been reached.”
“I cannot emphasise more the fact that all the challenges facing our municipality need all of us to put our shoulder to the wheel. And service delivery is the responsibility of every one of us,” Vara said.
anele@grocotts.co.za
