The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs for KwaZulu-Natal, Reverend Thulase Buthelezi, demanded that the local Impendale Municipality settle all outstanding salary debts within 48 hours. Buthelezi expressed serious concern over municipal employees not receiving payment and instructed the administration to resolve the issue urgently.
Buthelezi stated that non-payment of salaries undermines the dignity of workers, the functionality of the municipality, and the quality of services provided to Impendale residents. He emphasized that it is morally unacceptable for workers to labor without pay, and consequently ordered that all overdue amounts be paid within two days.
He also noted that the department intends to strengthen consequence management, restore stability in local government, and guarantee uninterrupted service to the province's population.
Staff Protest Over Unpaid Wages
Last month, municipal employees reported that the lack of salary for four months had pushed their families to the brink of collapse. This prompted the South African Municipal Employees Union (Samwu) to call for urgent provincial intervention. Disgruntled workers staged a strike, paralyzing traffic on the Q127 road, which is the main access route to the Impendale Economic Zone. Employees affiliated with Samwu stopped working, stating they could no longer endure the financial hardship caused by the municipality's inability to make payments.
This latest salary crisis followed a previous instance in January when councilors and staff were not paid. At that time, Buthelezi visited the municipality for an inspection to address the deepening financial and administrative crisis that prevented the institution from performing its basic duties. He attributed the municipality's inability to pay salaries to the depletion of municipal funds. Subsequently, the municipality was placed under administration in June due to concerns over its financial and administrative problems.
The small municipality constantly faces difficulties in providing services and sometimes pays its employees late, leading to protests.
Impendale's Financially Irresponsible State
In July, the municipality appealed to the National Treasury to revoke the decision to suspend the transfer of equitable shares to municipalities with low efficiency. The Treasury announced on Tuesday a temporary suspension of equitable share transfers for July 2026 to some municipalities to enforce financial discipline. This is being done to ensure proper management of state funds allocated to municipalities and so that they learn to address issues of unauthorized, irregular, unproductive, and wasteful expenditure. Equitable shares are funds that the National Treasury unconditionally transfers to provincial and local governments to cover administrative costs.
Impendale's financial situation, which is among the municipalities identified by the National Treasury as financially irresponsible, reached a critical point when it failed to pay staff salaries on time at the beginning of this year. Mayor Kho Dlamini stated that the municipality cannot survive without equitable shares.