The SA Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) says it is unhappy with the City of Cape Town's SAP payroll system, which it says has been unable to produce a flawless pay run since around July last year.
SAMWU provincial secretary Andr'e Adams says there have been endless problems since the implementation of the SAP system and in particular the payroll module.
"There have been problems every month with workers being under or overpaid or not paid on time. There has also been a problem inputting a 40-hour working week into the system, which the city seems to have been unable to resolve," he says.
"The city insisted on a full SAP implementation of R350 million and now they are not able to manage it properly," he says.
Adams says the latest problem came on Monday when the union was informed the night before payday (Tuesday) that some of the salaries would be paid late.
"The latest glitch caused a lot of frustration among the workers. Some of them even downed tools. January is the worst time of the year for this to happen after the Christmas season. Other workers were stranded with no money for transport.
"The city talks about productivity but now they are the cause of the problem," he says.
However, Pieter Cronj'e, spokesperson for the council, says while there was a glitch resulting in a 12-hour delay, it was caused by high volumes of electronic transfers and not the SAP system.
"We were advised by the bank late on Monday that there was a delay in the electronic transfer of salaries, because they were experiencing high volumes of electronic transactions. We sent out a communication to all staff. Those who were working late received it, others read the communication first thing on Tuesday morning," he says.
Despite this, Adams says SAMWU is totally not satisfied with the council's response to the problems that have been experienced.
"It appears they have been giving us lip service. Time and time again we have been given assurances that something is being done about the problems and yet they have continued. We will be addressing the issue at the next council meeting in early February to prevent another occurrence," he says.
A municipal representative says the city will release a comment on the problems experienced with the 40-hour working week and the other issues raised by the union tomorrow.
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