News24 reports that one of the unions negotiating with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) over working times on Saturdays has a simple message: "Call us only when you are ready to pay overtime.  Until then, there will be no work on Saturdays!"  

On Thursday, the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (Nupsaw) released a statement saying that until the department was "ready to pay overtime, the employer’s status quo of voluntary work on Saturdays remains".  In this long-standing dispute that dates back to March 2015, the DHA claims it’s not in a financial position to pay overtime and has proposed that officials be granted a day off on Wednesdays to ensure that they do not work a six day week.  The unions - Nupsaw, the Public Servants Association (PSA) and the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) – have all rejected the offer.  According to the DHA, negotiations with the unions are still ongoing this week.

• Read this report by Jan Gerber in full at News24

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