Easter road safety at risk as RTI overtime dispute escalates

A brewing wage dispute inside the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport is threatening to spill onto the province’s roads, with potentially dire consequences for the upcoming Easter period. The Public Servants Association (PSA) has warned that its members will withdraw from attending standby calls if outstanding overtime for December and January is not paid by Friday next week. The union said the impasse could trigger further chaos on the roads at one of the busiest travel times of the year.

At the heart of the dispute is unpaid overtime owed to Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers, who were deployed extensively during peak festive operations. PSA acting provincial manager Roshan Lil-Ruthan has sharply criticised the department, accusing it of failing to meet an obligation it created by authorising overtime in the first place. He described the internal memo as “absurd” and warned it could worsen an already volatile situation.

This is absurd to think that police officers can perform traffic officers’ duties. Will they be able to man the speed cameras and do other necessary roadworthy checks on vehicles? “They were not trained for that, so no, deploying officers into a field they have no training and experience in would be disastrous,” said Lil-Ruthan.

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In an internal memorandum circulated last week, RTI management instructed commanders to stop allocating overtime where budgets had been depleted. The memo further directed commanders to seek assistance from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and municipal traffic authorities in emergencies. The memorandum, dated February 16 and signed by RTI director Victor Chetty, stated that unpaid overtime for January would be paid “in due course”.

“All regional commanders and station commanders, going forward, are requested to limit any overtime to be worked where the respective overtime budget has been exhausted, and officers are to be placed on standby only,” reads the memo. Arrangements must be made with the local municipal traffic authorities and SAPS to respond to any emergencies should the need arise.

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