Home Affairs vs Guptas 1

IT IS back to the drawing board for the Home Affairs Department and workers after 90% of staff did not pitch up to work on a voluntary basis on Saturday.

As a result, the majority of Home Affairs offices around the country were closed.

This comes after a settlement agreement was reached on June 15, in terms of which staff would work on a voluntary basis on Saturdays and in turn receive one day off during the week.

In a statement, Home Affairs said: “The department wishes to apologise to the public and put it on record that it is disappointed by these developments as they are not in line with the spirit of the agreement.”

In 2015, Home Affairs introduced a new rotational work shift which required each employee to work between one and two Saturdays a month, depending on the size and need of a particular office.

If an employee worked a Saturday shift during a particular week, he or she would be allowed to start work at 9am instead of 7.30am from Monday till Friday and work a half day on the Saturday.

Department spokesperson David Hlabane said: “Unions objected to this and asked that employees be paid overtime for working on Saturdays.

“They also said that working on Saturday would be taxing on employees in terms of transport as it would be an extra day of unbudgeted expenses.”

However, he said that the department did not have the money to pay employees for overtime.

“The department has no money for overtime and with cost-cutting measures in all national departments it would not be possible,” he said.

Hlabane said while the settlement agreement was good in theory, it was proving challenging in practice.

“We are very disappointed by what happened on Saturday because it affects the public.

“Saturdays are important to accommodate people who work during the week,” he said.

Hlabane said that this matter was “urgent”.

He said management, along with the three unions involved, the Public Servants Association of South Africa (PSA), National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), and the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw), would be going back to the bargaining council to find a solution.

PSA’s Ivan Fredericks said: “We’ll be monitoring the situation and go back to the drawing board to find a solution.”