Local Izinduna demand salaries

IZINDUNA from the uThungulu and other Zululand districts marched yesterday to the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) office in Empangeni demanding the salaries State President Jacob Zuma allegedly promised them in 2013.

uThungulu Izinduna Committee co-ordinator, Induna BS Mthembu, said the President issued a proclamation to pay all Izinduna for the services they render to their communities.

‘We hardly sleep at night, having to run around after criminals and solving community problems among other things and we feel COGTA is short-changing us.

‘They assured us our salaries would be backdated to 2013, but so far this has proved to be empty promises.

‘Limpopo Izinduna and those from Umzimkhulu do get paid, but the rest of us receive nothing,’ complained Mthembu.

Handing over their memorandum of grievances to uThungulu COGTA official Mbuso Sikhakhane, the Izinduna warned they are giving COGTA MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube 14 days to address their complaints, otherwise they will ‘bring KZN to its knees’.

‘If we hear nothing from her office within this time, we will march to Pietermaritzburg.

‘We warn her if she continue refusing to give us what rightfully belongs to us, we will go as far as disrupting the 2016 elections,’ the Izinduna said.

Sikhakhane promised to forward the memorandum to Dube-Ncube.