The City of Tshwane has defended its decision to limit overtime hours in an effort to comply with labour laws and improve the management of public resources.
This was in response to allegations by the Democratic Alliance in Tshwane, which claimed that the city has lost R130-million in revenue due to the new overtime policy.
Spokesperson gives details
Selby Bokaba, City of Tshwane spokesperson, told Sunday World that it is incorrect to state that the city has lost such an amount without considering how much the city has saved on non-consumption and paying overtime during this period.
“Less consumption also indicates that there was less bulk purchases from Eskom, which then balances the equation out. This simply means that when all factors are taken into consideration, the city has technically not lost any revenue,” said Bokaba.
He said the move to introduce the policy was not about cutting corners. It was about correcting long-standing problems raised by the Auditor-General of South Africa.
He explained that staff are not allowed to work more than 40 hours. This disregards the limits placed by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act on overtime.
Overtime work
“The second part of the finding is that overtime is being worked to do normal or routine work. It has been and was standard practice to simply work without limitation. Before the overtime limitation, staff in the electricity division routinely worked 100 to 120 hours in addition to a standard monthly shift of 160 hours. This is both untenable and unsustainable,” said Bokaba.
He said this also showed a disregard for work practices while allowing abuse of overtime and loss of materials.
He said the AGSA and the city’s Collective Bargaining Agreement allow for overtime beyond 40 hours but only under strict conditions.
These include responding to critical issues such as low, medium, and high voltage outages, damaged infrastructure, and substation failures.
The city, according to Bokaba, now limits overtime to 8pm on weekdays and from 7.30am to 8pm on weekends. He said this ensures that the city focuses its efforts on peak periods when power is most needed.
Availability is key factor
“The issue the city is grappling with is to ensure availability when it is most needed. Not overnight or off-peak periods when it is not critical,” said Bokaba.
He emphasised that the city is in a stronger financial position than in recent years. It has a cash-funded budget for the first time in five years. The overtime strategy allows Tshwane to provide services throughout the year in a fair and sustainable way, he added.
“The other important factor to consider is the overload which normally occurs during winter periods. It is occasioned by illegal connections as well as the perennial problem of infrastructure vandalism. Also theft of cables and other electricity components, which we are grappling with.
“Our teams become overstretched to respond timeously to outages. This has nothing to do with overtime policy,” said Bokaba.
