Durban - A new policy that cuts back overtime for traffic officials, among other public servants, could spell disaster on the province’s roads, already the scene of much carnage.
It could also mean there will be no late-night roadblocks to check on drunk driving and less police visibility during the upcoming Easter holidays.
A circular sent out by the Department of Public Service and Administration stipulates that staff cannot put in more than 30% overtime work.
For Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers it means they cannot work more than 28 hours extra a month, or more than two weekends.
An RTI manager who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, told POST this new policy, which is being challenged by unions, could spell disaster.
“In KwaZulu-Natal we have a shortfall of about 500 officers. This means that during the March 21 public holiday and the Easter long weekend, we will have little or no visibility at certain times.
“We cannot afford this, especially with the carnage on our roads.”
Nathi Sukazi, chief director of communications in the Department of Transport, said the government cannot save money at the cost of saving people’s lives.
Sukazi, who confirmed receipt of the directive, told POST: “There is no doubt if we implement this directive, we will be severely attacked.”
He said they were treating it as a matter of urgency.
Sukazi confirmed they were already short staffed.
While he also confirmed that it would affect visibility and road blocks during the Easter holidays, he said they had a responsibility to ensure maximum visibility on the roads across the province.
“As a nation we need to create a balance between cost containment and saving people’s lives.”
Roshan Lil-Ruthan, chief negotiator of the Public Servants Association (PSA), claimed that the Department of Transport had known about the directive but kept it under wraps.
“Now we have a crisis, especially during the upcoming Easter holidays which is the busiest times on our roads.
“Who is going to ensure that drivers are well rested and vehicles are roadworthy?
“During Easter we have religious communities like the Shembe community travelling long distances.”
Lil-Ruthan said that officers only worked two shifts, from 6am until 2pm and 2pm until 10pm.
“Anything beyond 10pm is overtime. This new ruling means that officers cannot be on duty on public holidays and roads will remain unmanned.
“From March 1, no officers will be on standby duty, so if there is a major accident on the road, for example, a bus crash or a chemical spillage, an RTI officer cannot be called on duty.”
Lil-Ruthan said taxis and tour buses would be a “law unto themselves”. He said the PSA had called for an urgent bargaining chamber meeting.
With regard to the officers, he said it meant reduced income at the end of the month.
“These public servants earn a low basic salary and rely heavily on overtime to supplement their income. This reduction would create problems as many had budgeted on potential overtime.”
In addition, many officers who worked this month were fearful that they may not be paid for overtime.
In an email sent to the department, Andre van Schalkwyk, PSA’s KZN manager, said: “The challenge at this stage seems to centre around the issue that employees have already worked overtime for this month and were advised only on February 20 that they must stop working any planned overtime as there was an amendment to the overtime policy and they can now only perform overtime equal to 30% of their salary.
“The problem is that they have already worked in excess of the allowed (percentage) for the month and now rumours are doing the rounds that the department is not willing to pay them the overtime that they had performed until February 20.
“Should this indeed be the case, it would be very unfair to implement the instruction retrospectively as employees were instructed to work by the management only to learn about the new policy now.”
Citing a recent incident where officers were needed for overtime, Lil-Ruthan said on Sunday the N2, near Shaka’s Rock, on the KZN North Coast had been closed due to rock throwing.
“According to information received there had been a power cut on Saturday night following a lightning strike and power had not been restored by Sunday.
“Residents took to the freeway and began stoning cars. Eleven cars were damaged and four people were hospitalised.
“RTI officers worked until midnight on Sunday, cleaning up the freeway and ensuring the safety of passing motorists,” he said.
“The point is that these officers want to render their work, but they must be paid.”