Home Affairs staff bunk Saturday duty

26 June 2017 - 06:46 By Staff reporter
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Home Affairs operating hours.
Home Affairs operating hours.
Image: Facebook/Latest Jobs in South Africa

The vast majority of Home Affairs offices were not operating on Saturday, despite a settlement agreement reached with trade unions just over a week ago.

The department confirmed that more than 90% of its offices were not open, due to not enough staff turning up for work.

"The department wishes to take this opportunity to apologise to the public for the inconvenience caused and put it on record that it is disappointed by these developments as they are not in line with the spirit of the agreement and the resolutions of discussions that took place up to Friday," the department said in a statement.

It appealed to union leadership to prioritise "resolving this matter urgently as agreed with the unions during negotiations".

A planned nationwide strike by Home Affairs workers, scheduled to have begun last Monday, was called off after the department agreed to withdraw a circular compelling its staff to work on Saturdays without overtime pay.

"We are hopeful this matter will be resolved amicably because the public deserves better service from all of us," said the department.

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