Nearly 100 Nelson Mandela Bay infrastructure and engineering workers descended on City Hall on Monday, demanding four months’ worth of unpaid overtime from acting city manager Lonwabo Nqoqo, and warning that if the money does not come, they will take their protest to the streets.
Speaking outside City Hall, SA Municipal Workers regional chair Phumzile Tshuni said workers from the city’s infrastructure and engineering department had not been paid overtime and acting allowances for several months
“What happened was that workers in the infrastructure and engineering directorate were not paid overtime, and not paid acting allowances,” Tshuni said.
“This is not the first time it has happened. They have been working since the year began and have not been paid.
“We met with the directorate, and the department drafted a memo directed to the acting city manager.
“The memo was not responded to.
“This is what prompted our members to come to City Hall.”
When asked what was missing from the memo, he said all budget-related items required input from the budget and treasury department, and that was absent.
Last week, The Herald reported that a total of 885 officials had occupied acting positions in funded and unfunded posts over the past three years, including those on suspension.
Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya confirmed that Ngoqo met the workers to address concerns.
“During this engagement it was clarified that the municipality’s acting policy does not permit employees to act in unfunded positions,” Soyaya said.
“This principle applies uniformly across the institution.
“Regarding overtime, the municipality has not yet received the formal correspondence required to process and verify the claims.
“This was communicated directly to the parties during the meeting, and the acting city manager has requested that the directorate submit the necessary documentation so the matter can be properly assessed.
“Once the required information is formally submitted, the municipality will review the claims and respond in line with policy and budget availability.”
The Herald
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