The ANC-led Impendle Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal had failed to pay salaries on time since April.
Impendle Local Municipality/Facebook
The ANC’s KZN convenor,Mike Mabuyakhulu,apologised to workers who weren’t paid for months. The party expelled the Impendle councillors,but suspended the expulsion for five years,pending a public apology and corrective measures.This week,Cogta MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi issued a 48-hour ultimatum. The department confirmed salaries were paid on Thursday.For more political news,visit News24 Politics.The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has publicly apologised to the people of Impendle after the municipality it governs failed to pay workers for more than four months.
Addressing the media at the party’s Durban offices on Thursday,ANC KZN convenor Mike Mabuyakhulu chastised the “ill-disciplined” behaviour of the party’s deployees at the troubled Impendle Local Municipality,and confirmed that they had been “given a sentence of expulsion that is suspended for five years”.
“We have been very concerned about the situation in Impendle,” he added.
“The ANC wants to apologise for the fact that we had a team of deployed councillors that were meant to go and serve our people and to respect the mandate.
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“Their misbehaviour and attitude have resulted in them facing the provincial disciplinary committee… they have been given a sentence of expulsion that is suspended for five years... on a proviso. Firstly,they must apologise,not only to the ANC,but to the people of Mpendle for the kind of leadership behaviour that they’ve been showing. Secondly,they must actually redeem themselves by doing certain corrective measures.”
READ | KZN municipality workers down tools after four months without payMabuyakhulu said the ANC took responsibility when people had been wronged and would address the situation directly.
He added:
We also want to apologise to workers,who for more than four months now,have been unpaid their salaries. We are therefore intervening,and there are certain actions we are taking… We will not wait for the 4th of November,because we think the challenge is now.
The ANC’s intervention comes hard on the heels of a 48-hour ultimatum from Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi,who on Tuesday directed the municipality’s administrator to ensure all outstanding salaries were paid within two days.
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“It is morally unacceptable for workers to work and not get paid. In this regard,I have directed the administrator to ensure that all outstanding salaries are paid within 48 hours,” said Buthelezi.
The department confirmed on Thursday that the salaries had been paid.
Welcoming the payment,Buthelezi said: “We stand firmly on the principle that the well-being of municipal employees is non-negotiable. When workers are paid and supported,communities receive the services they deserve.”
READ | ‘We truly value your patience’: Two KZN municipalities fail to pay salaries on timeImpendle has been under administration since May,when the provincial executive council invoked Section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution amid a total collapse of financial management and governance.
In July,Buthelezi briefed Parliament’s Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration on the crisis.
The department said at the time that the financial crisis had left Impendle completely unable to pay salaries to councillors and municipal staff on time,severely threatening livelihoods and crippling basic operations.
“Even more alarming,a forensic trail revealed that portions of a R43.5 million conditional grant strictly earmarked for critical service delivery infrastructure,such as water,roads,and electricity,were illegally diverted to cover basic operational costs and administrative salaries,” it said in a statement.
“Due to these profound and systemic financial challenges,the National Treasury took the extreme step of temporarily withholding Impendle’s July 2026 equitable share allocation.”
For months,the municipality withheld third-party payments,including those to SARS,medical aid schemes,pension funds,and the UIF,placing workers at extreme financial risk and emotional distress.
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