African National Congress (ANC) workers say it’s now three months since they last received their salaries, despite staging protests outside Luthuli House.
The last time they were paid was in August and their provident fund hasn’t been paid since 2018.
The ANC has repeatedly said it’s trying to resolve the issue and get money for its workers.
Workers’ representative Mvusi Mdala says it is sad that the party spent millions of rands on elections but failed to pay its employees.
“In our view that was the wrong decision to spend the money on elections and not pay the staff. Remember the staff are the ones that are supposed to be working and implementing the policies of the party and campaigning and running everything, therefore they were supposed to be a priority. We have seen the same thing happening in 2019, whereas our provident fund was not paid but the money was spent on elections, millions of rands,” says Mdala.
Pickets
In November, ANC staff members picketed outside the St George’s Hotel in Irene Pretoria, where a special meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) was being held to discuss coalition talks in hung municipalities.
The staff members who were joined by NEC members such as Nomvula Mokonyane and ANC Women’s League President Bathabile Dlamini accused the ANC of ignoring their plight.
Spokesperson for the staffers, Mandla Qwane, said the revelation of the R15-million donated to the ANC by its investment vehicle, Chancellor House, in August is a bitter pill to swallow:
ANC staff picket over non-payment of salaries outside St George’s Hotel:
In June, workers marched to the party’s headquarters and handed over a memorandum to Acting Secretary-General Jessie Duarte who promised that workers’ salaries would be paid on time.
Mdala says non-payment of the salaries has badly affected the livelihood of the workers.
The party has been experiencing financial problems with reports that it owed the South African Revenue Service (SARS) R80 million in Pay As You Earn deductions.
In the video below, ANC Treasurer-General Paul Mashatile explains how the party was planning to raise some funds:
