Paramedics at Rustenburg Hospital refused to return to work yesterday even though the North West's health department said the overtime payment issue had been resolved.

Paramedics at Rustenburg Hospital refused to return to work yesterday even though the North West's health department said the overtime payment issue had been resolved.

Emergency workers went on strike on Monday because they had not been paid for their overtime for three months.

National Education Health and Allied Workers Union spokesman, Kopano Konopi, said yesterday that workers had not been paid and that they would continue to take the unpaid overtime as "off workdays" until they were paid or their overtime hours were exhausted.

Konopi said it was "strange" that all hospitals in the province, besides Rustenburg, had been paid their overtime.

He said: "The department is citing over-expenditure in Rustenburg so the question is, why did they see it now and not in December?"

The money was supposed to be paid into the bank accounts of the workers on Wednesday morning, but it wasn't.

Lesiba Molala, department spokesman, said there was an agreement and that the money would "definitely" be paid.

"I do not understand why they are not working. I would understand if there was no agreement, but now there is," he said. - Sapa