BLOEMFONTEIN: Instead of solving the service delivery issues in the Mangaung Metro, the authorities managed to put a spanner in the works and ensure that the residents will pay for it. The planned implementation of a shift system for workers to ensure savings in overtime and better service delivery, backfired.
This is because the management never consulted with workers before executing it at the beginning of July this year. This resulted in members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) going to court. The Labour Court agreed that the Mangaung Metro had acted unlawfully by changing employment conditions unilaterally. The court ordered that Samwu members’ working terms and conditions were to revert back to what they had been on 1 August.
With the onus now being on the metro to cover the legal costs of the application, residents will, in effect, have to pay for the court case.
The Mangaung Metro filed an application for leave of appeal on 10 September − effectively suspending the judgment until the appeal comes to court. The decision to implement a shift system was aimed at curbing the enormous amount of overtime spending. Overtime overspending increased sharply over the last two financial years, with the 2024-’25 figure more than three times higher than the previous year. Overtime spending in 2024-’25 was an enormous R136 million.
Both the executive mayor, Gregory Nthatisi, and the municipal manager, Sello More, presented the shift system as the primary method for controlling overtime spending. However, they implemented it without consulting workers.
Hardie Viviers, DA councillor, said at a recent Section 80 Finance Committee meeting that the DA learned that the metro’s July overtime spending was nearly triple its monthly budget.
“The DA supports the shift system, which was designed to allocate 12-hour shifts to metro employees,” he said.
He strongly warned about the impact on residents when the metro filed an application for leave to appeal, effectively suspending the labour court judgment and interdict.
“As a result, residents risk paying double for services, once for excessive overtime and again for potential legal costs if the Mangaung Metro loses its appeal. The consequences of these failures have directly impacted residents, as critical services such as waste collection and law enforcement have nearly collapsed.”
Viviers said that the metro could not continue to spend more than R100 million per year on ineffective services.
Thabang Tseuo, provincial secretary of Samwu, in a statement issued on Wednesday, 17 September, highlighted inconsistent decision-making in the shift system by More.
“The city manager’s call for a shift system also fails to acknowledge the severe staffing shortages that have plagued the municipality for years. The auditor-general (AG) has explicitly highlighted high vacancy rates, especially in critical technical and operational posts. It is unclear how a shift system can be effectively implemented when there are not enough workers to fill the shifts. Workers are often forced to work extended hours to compensate for chronic understaffing and ensure essential services are rendered to residents. This is not an abuse of the system, but a necessity driven by the municipality’s failure to fill posts and implement a sustainable workforce strategy.”
Tseuo has dismissed the assertion that excessive overtime is the central cause of the municipality’s financial difficulties as fundamentally false. He referenced the most recent audit outcomes from the auditor-general of South Africa (Agsa), which flagged the continuation of chronic far-reaching governance and financial crisis.
“The audit reveals a third consecutive qualified audit opinion, a material deficit of R468 million, and staggering amounts of unauthorised (R1,8 billion), irregular (R278 million), and fruitless and wasteful (R130 million) expenditure. These figures, along with the under-utilisation of grants and a lack of investment in critical infrastructure, point to a crisis that cannot be attributed solely to employee overtime,” said Tseuo.
He said the union supports legitimate efforts to reduce wasteful expenditure and improve service delivery.
“However, these efforts must be grounded in fairness, legality, and sound labour practices. Samwu will oppose any measures that unilaterally impose new working conditions, violate existing collective agreements, or penalise workers while ignoring the municipality’s own financial and governance failures.
“We reaffirm our readiness to engage constructively on matters of efficiency and financial sustainability, but we will not allow workers to be used as scapegoats for failures caused by poor leadership and mismanagement,” said Tseuo.
■ It was reported on bloemnuus.co.za that More had warned workers that if an alternative for overtime could not be reached, it could lead to job losses.
