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African National Congress workers are due to continue protesting outside party headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg on Monday.
They are demanding fair labour practices and salary payments. The employees had downed tools 11 days ago following two months of unpaid salaries.
The party’s serious financial crunch was expected to be discussed in the weekend’s ANC NEC lekgotla, however, workers say they haven’t received feedback on the matter.
The ANC’s Staff Representative Committee Chairperson, Mvusi Mdala, says they are waiting to hear when they will be paid.
“It is because we are not getting any joy or response from the employer. They are quiet, as if nothing is happening, but we want to remind them that we still stand with what we demanded on the 15th of June. The question of salaries is still a big issue to us. We were expecting that we would be formally called to a meeting to discuss the matter. As much as we said it is tools down, even if we wanted to go to work we can’t as there is no money to do so.”
Workers at the ANC haven’t been paid for two months due to cash-flow problems. Management at the party’s headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg says all party offices throughout the country will be closed on Thursday.
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
“We have been in this situation for some time, for more than 4 years because the employer has not been paying our provident fund, has not been paying our UIF whereas they’ve been deducting from us since 2018, therefore we are not convinced that the pandemic and the party funding is as a result of the financial crisis that is facing the ANC currently,” says Mdala.
ANC staff members across the country picket over salaries:
The ANC has been experiencing financial problems with reports that it owed the South African Revenue Service (SARS) R80 million in Pay As You Earn deductions.