WATCH: Free State Finance MEC promises workers R10k after 2 months with no pay

Free State finance MEC Gadija Brown came under fire from angry employees at Kopanong Local Municipality after she told them they would receive only R10 000 compensation each because Kopanong was too broke to pay their outstanding salaries and benefits.

Brown held an impromptu meeting with employees at the Trompsburg-headquartered municipality on Monday. She had initially arrived on the day to meet with municipal bosses over Kopanong’s crumbled finances.

WATCH: MEC Gadija Brown addressing angry workers in Kopanong

The staffers spoke to The Citizen on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

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“We heard that she arrived at Kopanong and we made our way there to find out from her why we haven’t received salaries for two months.

“Payments are made to companies and consultants every month, but we as workers are left to fend for ourselves while expected to work,” said one insider employed in the office of the municipal manager.

Brown is seen in a video clip recorded at Monday’s meeting urging the staffers to accept the R10 000.

“There’s no additional funding in the bank account, and they want to give you R10 000. [Department of] Public Works through Treasury paid them an advance for the year for what is owed on rates and taxes, so we did an advance to pay the clerical workers.

“Your equitable share will be paid on 7 December, so that will be your salary for November. What I want them to do is backdate the October salary that they owe you on the 7th of December.”

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Workers told the MEC that the cash was not enough to cover their monthly obligations.

“Our creditors are fed up. We bring them undated letters that say nothing,” one staffer is heard saying in the clip.

‘I am drowning in debt, sick all the time’

Another staffer employed in the office of the speaker for more than 10 years, said she has been borrowing money to offset the impact of non-payment.

“My doctor told me I am slipping into depression, I am always feeling ill with constant diarrhoea, I’ve lost so much weight.

“I am in so much debt I don’t know what I am going to do. My children have had enough too, they suggest I resign because there’s nothing to show for it.”

Kopanong municipality’s wage bill totals R14 million. Along with other dysfunctional muncipalities such as Maluti-A-Phofung, Masilonyana, Tokologo, Mafube, Mohokare and Mantsopa, Kopanong cannot fulfil its salary obligations and faces total collapse.

It also owes power utility Eskom and water boards hundreds of millions of rands. Monies deducted from salaries are illegally used for other expenses, leaving the council with R444 million debt owed to pension funds and medical aid schemes.

With the recent Jagersfontein dam disaster, Kopanong’s dire situation has worsened.

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Workers continue to strike

Employees have since downed tools over non-payment of wages and benefits.

No one sets foot at the building, while council holds meetings via Zoom.

“The municipal building is closed, there’s no one there. Everything has ground to a halt – no services are being rendered, and the business of the municipality has stopped.

“The general workers stopped working weeks ago because they do not have PPE, so they are at home. Nothing resembling municipal services is happening here,” said the employee.

Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor at Kopanong Hessie Shebe called for a forensic investigation into the municipality’s finances.

“Currently, two months’ worth of salaries is outstanding. On 9 November 2022, only the clerks to general workers could receive their salaries.

“The DA will demand a full-scale, independent forensic audit of the municipality’s finances in order to identify the root cause of the municipality’s financial woes.”

She said Kopanong submits financial returns very late, leading to funding always arriving late, and the quarterly funding from the State is used for arrears and salaries, and not for intended service delivery projects.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillor Kahliso Litseho remarked that no council decision was ever taken regarding the R10 000 compensation.

“People wake up and decide to take decisions that affect employees without informing the council. The acting municipal manager has been here for two weeks but there’s no formal communication on the terrible state of funding.

“Workers who are supposed to have retired are called back to work. Old people are told to start over and work to earn a salary in Kopanong because pension funds are owed millions of rands.

Mayor says unions are ‘opportunistic’

Kopanong’s African National Congress (ANC) Mayor Xolani Tseletsele shrugged at striking unions demanding workers’ wages, accusing them of “not coming to the table”.

“We are willing to engage, but they are not willing to enter into discussions. It becomes a problem when we have serious finances and owe service providers, but unions come to tell us to pay the service providers, showing possible vested interests.”

He added that the salary bill shot from R6 million to R12 million because inexperienced and unqualified people were promoted and given exorbitant salaries that they were not entitled to.

“People at Kopanong earn a lot of money, I can tell you that. We got rid of corrupt officials who were doing nothing but loot the coffers before my arrival,” he said.

The solution to owed wages, said Tseletsele, can be fixed through collection of owed rates and taxes.

“Apart from wages and debt for third parties such as Eskom, fixing the collection rate of owed municipal large amounts of money will help relieve us of the labour issues.

“People and businesses in and around Kopanong are not paying their municipal bills, we are owed a lot of money.”

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