Latest: Ugu scrambling to find R10-m payout

UGU’s municipal manager ‘DD’ Naidoo probably saved the entire South Coast with a judgement call to refund about 800 municipal workers five years’ worth of death and disability payments, amounting to about R13-million.

Strictly speaking, no one should expected to be paid out for this policy unless they are disabled or dead.

However, the policies go back to about 1997. They were not statutory so the scheme (with Sanlam) was organised by mutual consent between workers and management.

All was done in good faith.

Unfortunately, the necessary paperwork fell through the cracks over the years and modern day workers now say they never signed an document giving Ugu permission to deduct the one percent (Ugu matched the amount with another one percent). Hence, they demanded the refunds going back 19 years, amounting to about R120-million.

The dispute ended in near disaster for the coast, as we all know.

The workers eventually agreed to settle on repayments going back to five years – R13-million. Ironically, Sanlam refunded Ugu an amount of R2,5-million for ‘overpayments’.

So that leaves Ugu with a sum of about R10.5-million to come up with.

Mr Naidoo said he did not want to scrimp on services – especially over the festive season – so the money will come from ‘non-core expenditure’.

He is accountable to provincial and government good governance regulations, and this amount will then have to be paid back by the end of June.

“These next six months will have to be very lean. I’m not sure who will be affected,” he said.

Read the full story in this week’s South Coast Herald.

READ MORE: South Coasters struggle without water

Angry locals consider class action against Ugu

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