By Lebone Rodah Mosima
KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi has given the embattled Impendle Local Municipality 48 hours to pay outstanding staff salaries.
“It is morally unacceptable for workers to work and not get paid,” Buthelezi said this week.
“In this regard, I have directed the Administrator to ensure that all outstanding salaries are paid within 48 hours.”
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Impendle has been under a Section 139(1)(b) intervention for nearly four months after the Provincial Executive Council placed it under administration in May because of ongoing governance and financial management failures.
The municipality was also among those whose July equitable share allocation was temporarily withheld by National Treasury over financial management and compliance failures.
In July, Buthelezi briefed Parliament’s Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration about an oversight visit to Impendle, where he detailed the extent of the financial problems.
“This financial crisis left Impendle completely unable to pay salaries to councillors and municipal staff on time, severely threatening livelihoods and crippling basic operations,” he said at the time.
“Even more alarming, a forensic trail revealed that portions of a R43.5 million conditional grant strictly earmarked for critical service delivery infrastructure, such as water, roads, and electricity, were illegally diverted to cover basic operational costs and administrative salaries.”
Buthelezi said the municipality had for months failed to transfer employee deductions to third parties, including SARS, medical aid schemes, pension funds and the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
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The failure prompted appeals from organised labour, with SAMWU Impendle chairperson Mzwandile Zuma calling on the provincial government to intervene to protect workers.
“Our people deserve functional municipalities and stable service delivery. We cannot allow administrative lawlessness to compromise the well-being of municipal employees who serve our communities,” Buthelezi said.
“Through the invocation of Section 139(1)(b), Cogta is stepping in with a strict financial recovery plan to correct the illegal diversion of conditional grants, enforce consequence management, and ensure statutory obligations to workers are fully met,” Cogta said.
