The Witness

The Witness: "Strikers won’t back down"
MSUNDUZI municipal workers in the water, electricity, traffic and waste departments have vowed to continue their strike over the payment of overtime and other concerns.

So if you have put your rubbish out and are hoping it will be taken away today, chances are it won’t be.

Acting municipal manager Roy Bridgmohan yesterday told The Witness that the municipality’s management committee will meet Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo this morning in an attempt to plot the way forward.

“But we will not go back on our decision [not to pay the overtime].”

When asked about contingency plans for the collection of rubbish, Bridgmohan referred The Witness to the deputy municipal manager for community services, Zwe Hulane, who had already êthe reporter to Bridgmohan for comment.

Bridgmohan complained that his rubbish has also not been collected. He said he had been out of town for the weekend and was driving and could not say any more to The Witness.

An employee who has served the municipality for more than 20 years said the strikers won’t back down until their concerns are attended to. The employee, who asked not to be named, said it is disappointing that the Local Government Department has not dealt with the municipality long after a memorandum detailing the “burning issues” of financial mismanagement and unfair labour practices by municipal officials was sent to the department in March last year.

“They have been made aware of the crisis last year. All we want is for them to remove the mayor and the municipal manager because they are failing not only the employees, but also the ratepayers,” said the employee.

“During the old order you never heard of this municipality running out of money, but in a democracy it happens.”

On Thursday, the police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse protesting workers outside the city hall.

The employee said the strike is not only about overtime payment, but also about the misappropriation of municipal funds and the lack of action against the culprits.

“We want the ruling party to tell us what is being done to sort this mess out. We can’t go on like this while knowing what and where the problem is,” he said.

Local Government MEC Nomsa Dube said she was not aware of Thursday’s protest. “We are aware of the concerns raised by the municipal workers and we are working on addressing them. We will explain to them the steps taken in dealing with the matter, and this will be done through their representatives,” said Dube.

The secretary of the Msunduzi Shop Stewards’ Council, Themba Lyons, said they have given the municipality 48 hours’ notice that members of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union will be embarking on an indefinite strike.


MSUNDUZI municipal workers in the water, electricity, traffic and waste departments have vowed to continue their strike over the payment of overtime and other concerns.

So if you have put your rubbish out and are hoping it will be taken away today, chances are it won’t be.

Acting municipal manager Roy Bridgmohan yesterday told The Witness that the municipality’s management committee will meet Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo this morning in an attempt to plot the way forward.

“But we will not go back on our decision [not to pay the overtime].”

When asked about contingency plans for the collection of rubbish, Bridgmohan referred The Witness to the deputy municipal manager for community services, Zwe Hulane, who had already êthe reporter to Bridgmohan for comment.

Bridgmohan complained that his rubbish has also not been collected. He said he had been out of town for the weekend and was driving and could not say any more to The Witness.

An employee who has served the municipality for more than 20 years said the strikers won’t back down until their concerns are attended to. The employee, who asked not to be named, said it is disappointing that the Local Government Department has not dealt with the municipality long after a memorandum detailing the “burning issues” of financial mismanagement and unfair labour practices by municipal officials was sent to the department in March last year.

“They have been made aware of the crisis last year. All we want is for them to remove the mayor and the municipal manager because they are failing not only the employees, but also the ratepayers,” said the employee.

“During the old order you never heard of this municipality running out of money, but in a democracy it happens.”

On Thursday, the police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse protesting workers outside the city hall.

The employee said the strike is not only about overtime payment, but also about the misappropriation of municipal funds and the lack of action against the culprits.

“We want the ruling party to tell us what is being done to sort this mess out. We can’t go on like this while knowing what and where the problem is,” he said.

Local Government MEC Nomsa Dube said she was not aware of Thursday’s protest. “We are aware of the concerns raised by the municipal workers and we are working on addressing them. We will explain to them the steps taken in dealing with the matter, and this will be done through their representatives,” said Dube.

The secretary of the Msunduzi Shop Stewards’ Council, Themba Lyons, said they have given the municipality 48 hours’ notice that members of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union will be embarking on an indefinite strike.

The Witness

The Witness: "Fed up with all the filth"
BUSINESSES in the city are angered by the filth that has engulfed pavements in front of their establishments and have called on the Msunduzi Municipality management, councillors and employees to reach a compromise and get on with the cleaning of the city.

Garbage has piled up since the employees in the waste management, traffic and electricity divisions downed tools last Wednesday.

Virtually every street in the central business district has piles of uncollected rubbish, and in some streets plastic, cardboard boxes, paper and bottles lie strewn on pavements and streets and in gutters. Residential suburbs have piles of rubbish bags still uncollected.

The street with the most rubbish seems to be Church Street. Refuse lies scattered all along the street, even blocking some stormwater drains.

Irate businesses and residents said they are being held to ransom by the municipality while the services that they pay for are being abandoned.

“This is ridiculous. We are losing customers because of the filth in front of the business,” said John Nkwanyana of Champion Chicken in Church Street.

Dr Sibusiso Simelane, one of the owners of the Mpilenhle Medical Centre in Church Street, said the rubbish is a disturbance.

“The town is dirty … I hope they work out their differences.”

A man who owns a TV repair shop said there are rats in his establishment and they are chewing his cables.

Commuters and informal traders at the Market Square taxi rank said the rubbish at the entrance is stinking badly and affecting their health.

But municipal employees are adamant that they will not halt their protest and start cleaning the city unless their call for the implementation of Section 139 of the Constitution — under which the municipality can be put under administration — is heeded.

Today they will embark on a massive march and will hand over their memorandum of grievances to Co-operative Governance MEC Nomusa Dube at the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature.

Sakhile Ngcobo, deputy chairman of the SA Municipal Workers’ Union in Pietermaritzburg, confirmed that the march will include employees from all of the municipality’s divisions.

He said that although the marchers will insist on receiving their overtime payments, chief among their demands is for Dube to dissolve the council’s executive committee (Exco) and take over the running of the municipality.

Marchers who had gathered in Havelock Road yesterday told The Witness that they want the municipality to be “cleansed” of all corruption and that the process must begin with dissolving Exco.

At a special Exco meeting yesterday afternoon, it was resolved that the issue of overtime payments should be considered for those who have worked legal overtime.

Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo said she has told the MEC that it is unfair for workers who were authorised to work overtime to be penalised by not being paid.

She said the managers who authorised the overtime should pay the workers.

Mervyn Dirks-Something to hide?

The Witness: "Media barred from Exco after Witness expose"
YESTERDAY’s exposé about massive individual overtime claims at Msunduzi Municipality had unforseen consequences when the media was denied entry to the executive committee (Exco) meeting.

Acting Mayor Mervyn Dirks deliberately misled journalists before the sitting by telling them to wait outside as a confidential item was to be discussed before they would be called in.

However, officials walked out two hours later and proclaimed the proceedings over. When journalists asked Dirks why he had neglected to call them in after discussions on the confidential matter wrapped up, he said it was decided inside that the entire meeting would be confidential as only internal issues would be discussed.

DA councillor Bill Lambert was quick to dispute the claim.

“I asked why the press weren’t brought in. We discussed the agenda, not confidential items. It’s a clamp on the freedom of speech and I’m absolutely incensed. This is worse than the lights going off and it’s very sad for our democracy,” he said.

Dirks responded by claiming that it was an oversight on his part, but this is not the first time he has barred the media from sitting in on an Exco meeting.

Inside sources later told The Witness that no confidential matters were discussed. They said Dirks was in huff because his bodyguard’s overtime claims were exposed in yesterday’s Witness, and he retaliated by denying the media access.

Sources also said a resolution was passed that no journalist would be allowed to sit in on any future finance committee meetings.

“It’s because they are hiding corruption and don’t want to be exposed. It’s not right,” said a source.

The DA caucus leader in the KZN Legislature, John Steenhuisen, said Dirk’s actions are illegal according to sections of the Municipal Systems Act and the Constitution.

“It is entirely inappropriate for the media to be barred from meetings unless there are exceptional circumstances; the council must explain what these circumstances are,” he said.

Steenhuisen added: “Given the recent history of the Msunduzi Municipality, it would be a disaster if they closed the meetings. They have got up to enough skullduggery in open meetings. The mind boggles as to what they will get up to if they suddenly start meeting behind closed doors!”

Inkatha Freedom Party councillor Dolo Zondi was not present during yesterday’s sitting and attempts to make reach him by phone were not successful.

Massive overtime fraud

The Witness: "Overtime madness in Msunduzi Municipality"
INDIVIDUAL overtime claims at the Msunduzi Municipality have reached shocking proportions and evidence indicates that many security staffers are getting away with earning fat-cat salaries at ratepayers’ expense.

According to a list of just 36 of the municipality’s many security personnel, singular overtime claims per person for July and August range from R3 731,56 to R53 980,74. These amounts exclude basic pay.

For instance, one of deputy mayor Mervyn Dirks’s bodyguards pocketed R45 578,49 for overtime in July, while August saw him take home an overtime amount of R47 988,95. This adds up to an individual overtime total of R93 567,44 in just two months.

One of mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo’s bodyguards received R37 534,70 for overtime in July and his August overtime pay reached R46 592,88. His two-month individual overtime total amounted to R84 127,58.

But bodyguards are not the only municipal security employees who are pocketing exorbitant amounts in overtime.

The list also cites the excessive overtime payments dished out to traffic officers and security guards. For example, one earned R31 933,72 in July and R53 980,74 in August, bringing his two-month total to R85 914, 46.

Another received R34 327,86 for July and R39 983,58 in August, which amounted to R74 311,44 over the two months.

September salary slips in the possession of The Witness tell the same story. A security officer in training pocketed R39 085,20 in overtime, which is almost four times his basic monthly salary of R10 245,55. His gross earnings for the month were R52 270,55.

Even refuse collectors are coining it. One managed to pocket R15 030,40 in overtime for September, which was a major boost to his basic monthly salary of R5 328,12. He grossed a tidy R21 371,07 for that month.

Given these figures, it comes as no surprise that the municipality is failing to curb overtime spending.

Last month, The Witness reported that the municipality had already spent R25 million of the R33,5 million overtime budget barely three months into the new financial year.

Hlatshwayo said at the time: “It seems to be unregulated and it is all over the place in waste, in traffic, in security.”

At the end of the 2008/09 financial year, The Witness reported that the municipality managed to exceed its R43,4 million overtime budget by a whopping R22,5 million.

Leading the pack in terms of overtime expenditure that year was the community services business unit. It alone used up R29,5 million out of the R43,4 million overtime budget.

Asked to comment about the municipality’s poor financial discipline, Dirks — who is acting mayor in Hlatshwayo’s absence — said it is an administrative issue that the relevant managers should comment on.

Deputy municipal manager for community services Zwe Hulane referred The Witness to municipal manager Rob Haswell for comment, but Haswell failed to respond by the time of going to print. Attempts to get a response from the municipality’s chief financial officer, Roy Bridgmohan, were also unsuccessful.

According to the Labour Relations Act, it is not legal for employees to work more than 10 hours of overtime a week.

In a report by Haswell on October 8, with the title “Reduction Overtime Expenditure”, he admits that the municipality is contravening the act and are spending too much on overtime.

“From a budget of R33,5 million for the 09/10 year, we have only some R8 million left, and many employees are working for more than the maximum 10 hours of overtime per week as prescribed in the act,” wrote Haswell.

According to the Labour Relations Act, it is not legal for employees to work more than 10 hours of overtime a week.

In a report written by Rob Haswell on October 8 with the title “Reduction Overtime Expenditure”, he admits that the municipality is contravening the act and are spending too much on overtime.

“From a budget of R33, 5 million for the 09/10 year, we have only some R8 million left, and many employees are working for more than the maximum 10 hours of overtime per week as prescribed in the act,” wrote Haswell.

“I’M absolutely horrified,” said DA councillor Bill Lambert.

He told The Witness his party has raised the overtime issue constantly in Exco meetings, and Haswell was ordered to bring a report to Exco explaining how he is going to save council’s overtime money.

“If it was known that these people were exceeding the legal overtime limits, why was it not acted upon? This is a joke that’s not even funny,” he said.

IFP councillor Dolo Zondi said he is alarmed and cannot understand how general workers can earn such massive salaries.

“It has been happening for some time. Ever since I’ve been a councillor in this municipality, we’ve been cautioning against overtime,” he said.

Zondi said he had asked Exco in the past to get an assessment risk level that would probe whether bodyguards are indeed necessary.

“It’s not opposition parties that are threatening them. They need bodyguards to protect them from people in their own party.”

He said the overtime issue is proof that management was failing because they are the ones who sign off on the payments.

“THIS situation in Msunduzi is just another indication of an organisation where the management appears to have completely lost the political willpower to implement systems and controls. There are little or no up-front working systems required to be in place to measure and monitor council resolutions, service delivery, financial controls, much less complaints and responses to and from the ratepayer.

“The deputy municipal managers (DMMs) are not being held accountable by the municipal manager. The municipal manager no longer appears accountable to the mayor.

“How is one able to establish if this money was in fact paid when, generally, all correspondence to the DMM for community services, Zwe Hulane, under whose control the security, traffic, waste, parks and health units fall, is without fail never responded to, and is simply ignored by him, and those who fall under his control?

“The situation is fast reaching the stage in Msunduzi where the lunatics now appear to be running the asylum.”