adminVusumuzi Dube, Municipal Reporter
BULAWAYO City Council workers continue accruing leave days with some being owed up to 229 days, a situation that could force the cash- strapped local authority to commute the days into cash payments.
This could, however, put the local authority at loggerheads with the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing which recently ordered council workers to take the mandatory leave days instead of commuting them to cash.
Last year, senior council officials attracted the wrath of residents after they managed to commute their leave days to pay off vehicle loans which they owed the local authority. In the latest development, according to a council confidential report some council workers have gone for years without taking vacational leave owing to what the local authority termed as tight work schedule and human resources challenges.
According to the report five senior officials were the most affected with a senior committee officer, a Mr S T Nyoni having the most days at 229, followed by the city valuer, Mr Thabani Ncube with 208 days. Mr Polite Ngwenya who is a valuer has 199 days, the internal auditor, an S Siwela has 158 with the audit assistant, N Sibanda having 169 vacational leave days pending.
“Owing to tight work schedules and human resource shortages, they had not been able to proceed on leave in the usual manner. A leave schedule has been put in place to ensure that in the coming year, the members of staff shall proceed on leave such that by year end, the balance standing to their credit was within the permitted maxima,” read the council report.
Council sources revealed that the amount of leave days that the staffers had accumulated could mean that some of the workers could have gone for over eight years without taking vacation leave days.
The sources revealed that council workers get 2,5 vacational leave days a month, that translating to 27 days a year. Using this figure it would mean the senior committee officer could have gone for eight years without taking any leave days.
“A lot is not adding up regarding those leave days, yes, we are short staffed but honestly how does one accrue 229 leave days? No one can function like a robot which probably can go for that long without resting, it is just not good for any one person’s well-being.
“I believe this has to be investigated to find out the authenticity of these leave days. It won’t be surprising when we see some of these officials being able to commute these leave days for cash payments, it has once happened that council directors had their leave days cancelled in exchange for their vehicle loans, so what will stop it from happening this time around?” said the source.
Meanwhile, in the same report the local authority has started negotiations with its workers to come up with an interim solution that will see workers being able to commute leave days without necessary receiving cash payments.
The municipality noted that a number of staff members were desperate to commute their leave days to cash payment so as to meet various financial challenges.
“Owing to council’s weak financial position which had affected the organisation for a prolonged period, it had not been possible for staff to commute their leave days, as per the norm. Meanwhile several members of staff had been desirous to commute their accumulated leave days in order to meet various financial needs.
“Given the prevailing depressed financial status, council had no capacity to honour the terms of that facility, hence the need to adopt alternative measures to address the situation. The matter had been considered by the management committee which had recommended inter-alia that the union be engaged with a view to reach employer/employee consensus towards the resolution of the matter in the interim,” reads the report.
Last year, four of council’s top officials — the chamber secretary, Mrs Sikhangele Zhou; engineering director, Engineer Simela Dube; finance director Mr Kimpton Ndimande and the human resources manager, Mr Makhosi Tshalebwa — were caught in the eye of the storm after they allegedly ordered the encashment of their leave days to pay off their vehicle loans without a council resolution in place.
The four directors were owed a combined figure of $101 644 in leave days with Mrs Zhou’s days calculated at $21 147, Mr Ndimande; $26 055, Eng Dube; $24 362 and Mr Tshalebwa; $30 080. Last month, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Cde July Moyo met with Bulawayo councillors where he emphasised the need for staffers not to take advantage and commute their leave days for cash payments.
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