Emfuleni municipality spends R500m on overtime payments

JOHANNESBURG -The bankrupt Emfuleni Municipality has spent over half a billion rand on overtime payments to its employees over the past five years. 

This was revealed in a document, which Eyewitness News has seen, sent to Gauteng CoGTA MEC Jacob Mamabolo by Emfuleni’s municipal manager. 

According to the document, Emfuleni has paid between R91 million and R124 million annually on overtime since the 2019/2020 financial year. 

Last year, the municipality was unable to pay its employees’ September salaries on time because Eskom had attached its bank accounts due to non-payment of electricity supply.

There are concerns that the Emfuleni municipality is spending excessively on overtime payments, especially considering its ranking as one of the lowest-performing municipalities in the country. 

READ: Emfuleni Municipality fails to pay salaries after Eskom attaches its bank accounts

Even in 2020, when many of its employees worked remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emfuleni still paid out R102 million in overtime to its staff. 

Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng legislature member Kingsol Chabalala argues that for a municipality that struggles to deliver basic services to residents, spending R500 million on overtime over the last five years is difficult to justify. 

"As the DA, we believe that employees are colluding with their managers to steal from the municipality under the disguise of working overtime."

The Emfuleni municipality is yet to respond to EWN's inquiry regarding the matter.