Ghastly Xmas: Free State’s six ‘too broke’ municipalities fail to cough up salaries!

Thousands of municipality workers will likely head to the festive break with dry pockets as six municipalities are in dire state to settle outstanding salaries.

Local municipalities namely, Masilonyana, Kopanong, Mohokare, Mantsopa, Mafube, and Tokologo municipalities tipped their employees that taps have gone dry and there’s no money to pay their salaries.

Political parties and the trade union, Cosatu, have slammed the complete failure by municipalities plagued by financial mismanagement to pay salaries as employees will face a bleak Christmas.

“These municipalities have made late salary payments fashionable, particularly Mafube Local Municipality, which started as early as 2013. Now, they have informed their employees that they will not be remunerated for the next three months, which is entirely unacceptable,” said ActionSA’s Free State Provincial Chairperson, Patricia Kopane.

“In light of the above concerns, ActionSA demands the immediate payment of these employees’ salaries. It is unacceptable that employees work diligently for these municipalities, only to receive letters instead of money when the time for payment comes,” added Kopane.

Cosatu submitted a memorandum to the office of the Free State Premier Mxolisi Dukwana, raising plight of municipal workers that have not been paid for months.

However, their efforts have faced a huge blow as the Premier has not responded to their memorandum. The union federation accused PremierDukwana of disrespecting labour.

“No response has been forthcoming from Dukwana after a march to his Bloemfontein office two months ago.

“More disturbing is his disrespect for the tripartite alliance partners.

“It is completely unacceptable that a government leader and employer fails to respond to a memorandum handed over by workers,” Cosatu said.

On 26 October 2023, Auditor-General, Tsakani Maluleke visited the Free State province to deliver the 2022/23 PFMA Audit Outcomes to the Free State Executive council led by Free State Premier, Mxolisi Dukwana.

According to the Auditor-General, the province has a worst scenario of wasteful expenditure, poor governance and instability are the order of the day at most municipalities across the Free State Province.

Maluleke stressed that the ailing municipalities often appoint unqualified individuals, leading to unnecessary costs as they hire expensive consultants to prepare annual financial statements.

The consequences of this complete failure have resulted in numerous municipal worker protests due to the frustration of non-payment.

Moreover, residents face the repercussions of unpaid salaries, leading to the halt of third-party payments and the suffering of basic services. Water scarcity, mounting litter, and unattended sewage issues contribute to the worrying inevitability of a complete collapse of service delivery.