Cash-strapped Eastern Cape municipality pays workers
The municipality was unable to render services, and therefore unable to gather any revenue, following a violent community protest.
The Stutterheim Town Clinic after it was burned down by protesters, 16 October 2018. Picture: ANA
The financially troubled Amahlathi municipality in the Eastern Cape has paid its employees’ outstanding salaries for May and has committed to pay their June salaries the end of this month.
The municipality was unable to render services, and therefore unable to gather any revenue, following a violent community protest, subsequently leading to an inability to pay salaries.
Late last year, community members torched municipal buildings including a clinic during a protest, forcing the municipality to effectively shut down for five months.
Since March, it has been under provincial administration, led by Sindisile Maclean.
Maclean, a former mayor of the nearby Buffalo City Municipality, was given terms of reference for developing and implementing a financial recovery plan.
In terms of the plan, the provincial cooperative governance and traditional affairs department would help to ensure Amahlathi was restored to a sound financial footing and able to managed its administrative affairs.
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