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The crisis of struggling municipalities deepened this month as workers in the Free State and North West again did not receive their salaries on time. Left in limbo were employees of the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality in the Free State and workers of the Bojanala Platinum and Tswaing Local Municipalities, both in North West.
The three local authorities, which have been struggling to stay afloat for a long time, have not received government grants, also known as equitable shares, due to non-compliance to the Municipal Finance Management Act. The grants are normally paid in July every year.
MALUTI-A-PHOFUNG LOCAL MUNICIPALITY
After failing to pay the salaries on time again, the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality vowed to make payments on Friday. The salaries were cleared yesterday.
The Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality had initially planned to pay the outstanding third-party payments, for medical aid and pension contributions, when the grant was received.
“Due to the non-compliance to the Municipal Finance Management Act the National Treasury withheld the funds. The municipality is in constant engagement with the Treasury to negotiate for the release of the equitable share [grant],” said municipal manager Kadimo Masekoane.
The cash-strapped municipality has been without a mayor for six months and has struggled financially due to maladministration. It was placed under administration in February last year.
However, Masekoane told City Press they had a strategy for companies which owe them.
SA Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) secretary general Koena Ramatlou said the union was ready to go on strike after municipalities had continuously disappointed workers.
“This is a painful situation we are going through. We don’t expect the state to be unable to pay the salaries of the workers. They are turning a blind eye, including the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs and the president who had promised to intervene. They think we are threatening them when we say our members are going to go on a full-blown strike,” he told City Press.
The DA in the Free State has sent a letter to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging her to dissolve the municipality.
“In terms of the Constitution, the minister also has an obligation to intervene in a case like this,” said the party’s Leona Kleynhans.
She claimed that there have not been any visible improvements since the municipality was placed under administration.
“In actual fact, the financial situation has gotten worse. The provincial department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, either does not have the capacity or the will to sort out the challenges of this municipality. They are on their bare bones, they have no money,” Kleynhans said.
TSWAING LOCAL MUNICIPALITY
For months, workers have lived with the uncertainty of not knowing if they will be paid or not. Their June salaries were only paid on July 12.
Workers were only notified on Thursday that their salaries would be late.
“It’s the third month now that workers are receiving salaries late and it cannot happen that way,” said Vincent Diphoko, North West Samwu secretary-general.
The DA said in-fighting in the ANC was one of the reasons for the municipality’s failures.
“As long as factionalism is not dealt with, municipalities will continue to go from bad to worse,” said DA North West spokesperson Arista Annandale.
The party said they have little confidence in the abilities of the administrators as many of them have “shady pasts as mayors, municipal managers and heads of departments”.
“In the case of Tswaing, they brought back the administrator from 2011. If he couldn’t achieve anything then, why would he succeed now?” asked Annandale.
The DA also alleged that it was almost impossible to get hold of the mayor and the municipal manager. “They have been in hiding since the protest action that happened a couple of weeks ago,” Annandale said.
The municipality, which includes the towns of Delareyville, Sannieshof and Ottosdal, was rocked by protests over a shortage of water, lack of sports infrastructure and roads, and late salary payments.
During protests earlier this month angry residents torched the traffic department’s offices, a municipality building and a library in Ottosdal.
BOJANALA PLATINUM MUNICIPALITY
Bojanala Platinum Local Municipality manager Pogiso Shikwane told councillors and employees that salaries would be paid late.
“We trust that the matter will be resolved at the earliest convenience. As at now we are urgently resolving the directives of the provincial Treasury relating to the non-compliance to ensure that the operations of the municipality are restored back to normal,” he said in the letter.
Samwu said it was “extremely provoked and agitated” by the breach of contract by the municipality.
“You can’t depend on equitable share and expect workers to work. They do not also communicate with workers on time,” Diphoko said.
On Thursday, the council convened a special meeting to adopt resolutions in line with the directive of the MEC of finance, Motlalepule Rosho, as well as comprehensive contingency measures which can be put in place.
“The municipality has had to acquire a short-term loan of R50 million through invoking section 45 of the Municipal Finance Management Act. The loan will have to be paid back within the financial year,” the municipality said in a statement this week.
