More than R15 million spent on overtime in two months has raised serious questions in the Emfuleni Local Municipality as refuse collection failures persist, with the DA warning: “Those responsible must be held accountable,” while the municipality maintains the spending was for public safety operations.
The revelations were made at the Gauteng Legislature, where the municipal manager confirmed that over R15 million had been spent on overtime during February and March 2026, even as basic service delivery, particularly refuse removal deteriorated across several communities.
In Vanderbijlpark, the crisis has spilled into open protest, with residents hauling their own uncollected rubbish to municipal offices after enduring weeks and in some areas, months if not years without consistent refuse collection.
For many residents, the issue has shifted from service delivery failures to serious questions about financial accountability. With the Democratic Alliance (DA) calling for a full and transparent investigation into the overtime expenditure, concerns are mounting over where the money went and whether it translated into any meaningful work, particularly as the municipality points to recent interventions, including the addition of new refuse trucks.
DA mayoral candidate Kingsol Chabalala said the party was outraged by the municipality’s continued failure to deliver basic services while incurring excessive overtime costs.
“The DA calls for a full and transparent investigation into this expenditure, including who authorized the overtime, what work was performed, and why there has been no visible improvement in service delivery. Those responsible must be held accountable.”
He said the municipality could no longer justify spending public funds without residents seeing tangible improvements in the services they rely on.
“As the DA mayoral candidate, I am committed to restoring accountability, fixing service delivery, and ensuring that every rand spent by the municipality delivers value to the residents of Emfuleni. Our communities deserve clean, safe environments and a government that works for them, not one that fails them while wasting public resources,” Chabalala said.
The Democratic Alliance maintains that the overtime bill, viewed against the backdrop of collapsing services, points to deeper failures in oversight and financial management.
This is not the first time the Emfuleni Local Municipality has faced questions over its overtime bill. Previously, The Star reported that more than R700 million was spent over six years despite worsening service delivery. Figures presented to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature showed a steady rise in overtime costs, including nearly R200 million during the Covid-19 period.
However, the municipality has pushed back, rejecting claims that the overtime spending is linked to service delivery failures.
Municipal spokesperson Makhosonke Sangweni said a significant portion of the overtime expenditure was tied to public safety operations rather than basic services such as refuse collection.
“With our commitment to public safety in mind, it should be emphasised that this kind of service is unpredictable by nature; in most cases, emergency calls do not adhere to a 40-hour workweek. Overtime allows us to maintain minimum critical staffing levels as mandated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) during unforeseen spikes in emergency call volume and major community events to mention a few.”
He added: “A huge chunk of our overtime expenditure for February and March 2026 is linked to public safety services and not basic services. Correlating the expenditure to waste collection backlogs over the past two months is incoherent.”
Sangweni added that while overtime remains necessary, the municipality is working to balance costs with employee wellbeing, noting that excessive overtime can lead to fatigue and is not sustainable.
He also pointed to efforts to stabilise waste collection, including the addition of five compactor trucks to the municipal fleet in April, while acknowledging the need to reduce reliance on overtime through ongoing recruitment.
Sangweni added that while overtime remains necessary for operations, the municipality is working to balance costs with employee wellbeing, noting that excessive overtime can lead to fatigue and is not sustainable in the long term.
“The Emfuleni Local Municipality will continue to manage overtime costs diligently to ensure the best value for our residents.”
The Star
masabata.mkwananzi@inl.co.za