Certain police officers stationed at Strand Police Station have apparently not received payment for working overtime since December last year.
This according to a source who contacted DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette and shared the officers’ story on condition of anonymity.
“The officers who worked overtime on Sundays and public holidays are still waiting for their overtime to be paid,” the source said.
They further elaborated that the woman who normally handled the overtime pay for the station was on maternity leave.
“Since she went on leave no overtime has been paid. Every time one asks when these payments will be made the people from the top say they ‘will sort it out soon’, but nothing happens.”
Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie said he had taken note of the concerns raised by the source.
“Be advised such matters are not for public consumption or discussion in the media, but are regarded as internal, between employer and employee,” he pointed out. “For these there are processes in place to address them amicably. Should members be unaware of them we advise that they consult their HR/Finance department, or even unions to act on their behalf.”
Phaladi Shuping, spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), redirected comments to Strand police.
“The issues of overtime payment does not fall within the mandate of Ipid. It is an issue that can and must be addressed by the South African Police Services, which I kindly request you contact for a response.”
According to Warrant Officer Nico Beukes, spokesperson for Strand police, the payment problems all form part of an internal issue.
“These overtime-payment problems are not limited to Strand police, for other stations also have the same,” he said. “There have been certain challenges when it comes to the capturing of overtime, which includes work done on Sundays, night shifts and public holidays.”
Beukes explained the police district’s overtime payments are processed in Khayelitsha, which experienced a problem with capturing all the overtime data from the various stations.
“The problem was not on our side, but we recently held a management meeting where these issues came under discussion. We are urging police officers to remain calm as payments are being sorted out. It is just going to take some time, but some of the stations have already received their payments. So it is just a matter of time before all the Strand officers receive their overtime pay.”
Pat Raolane, provincial secretary of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), mentioned it had also heard that the person dealing with the overtime admin duties was on maternity leave.
“Usually when one goes on leave one must hand duties over to someone who is second-in-command,” he said.
“This was not done. Police officers must be paid for work done, which is a duty of the state. We’ll make sure that they get paid because these officers must be paid for the [overtime] work that they have done.”
