Hundreds of jobs in the Ekurhuleni metro have been frozen in an attempt by the municipality to fight overtime pay abuse, according to The Star on Monday.
An internal document seen by the paper says junior staff members in the department of waste management have allegedly been abusing overtime policies.
Those implicated include litter collectors, an executive manager, and other administrators.
Allegedly, one rounds collector claimed 212 overtime hours in February last year, over the 160 hours he was contracted to work for the month.
According to The star, employees nearly doubled their salaries in overtime claims.
Each overtime claim has now been capped at 40 hours per month. Over 170 positions have reportedly been frozen.
The document reportedly shows how the department exceeded its annual overtime budget by 73.7% in the 2015/2016 financial year.
Ekurhuleni spokesperson, Themba Gadebe told The Star that this was in line with a National Treasury memo instructing all municipalities to tighten their belts. He added that this was in line with the Labour Relations Act. He reportedly said the municipality had already taken measures to lower costs involved in overseas trips and fleet management.
He also told The Star that the positions that were frozen were already vacant.