Unpaid ANC staff threaten court action, start go-slow ahead of party's policy conference

26th July 2022 By: News24Wire

 Unpaid ANC staff threaten court action, start go-slow ahead of party's policy conference

African National Congress (ANC) employees have gone on a go-slow and threatened to go to court ahead of this week's ANC policy conference, questioning why the party has funds for the event, but not to pay its staff. 

A few staffers picketed outside ANC provincial offices on Monday after the party failed to pay salaries for June and July. 

A small protest was also held outside Luthuli House, the party's headquarters in central Johannesburg. 

The ANC is holding a policy conference between Thursday and Sunday this week.

It will see various branch delegates gather at Nasrec to discuss and debate policy strategies.

But ANC employees argue that the conference should have been allowed to go ahead while they remained unpaid.

For the past two years, the ANC has struggled to keep up with its wage bill. The party was rescued with donations earlier this year, allowing it to keep paying staffers. 

But the money seems to have dried up again. 

Employees said they had received no communication from the party about why their salaries were still unpaid. 

Mandla Qwane, a staff representative for the group, told News24 that ANC leaders were being arrogant.

"I am talking to you right now; there is no indication when we will be paid. This happens as the ANC is preparing for a national policy conference. This means there is money to pay for the policy, but no willingness to pay staff.

"With the same money you are using for the policy conference, you could have paid staff, and moved the policy conference. Because ANC staff is not a priority, the leadership chose that whatever money is there must go to the policy conference," Qwane said. 

Staffers say they are on a go-slow until the party indicates when salaries will be paid. They add that their pensions have been in arrears since 2018. 

"There is not even an apology. I have sent so many emails personally, as the board of trustees of the provident fund, and the office of the treasurer-general Paul Mashatile ignored that letter," Qwane said. 

"We have decided as staff, Luthuli House and provinces, we are on a go-slow. We will do some work, but we will not go the extra mile in doing our work. We are being pushed to the point that we have to withdraw our labour."

Qwane added that they would not rule out legal action to prevent the policy conference from going ahead, "because that money should be used to pay staff".

Gwen Ramokgopa, coordinator in the ANC secretary-general's office, met with disgruntled staff outside Luthuli House on Monday.

She promised that the salary issue would be resolved in the next few days and that the "situation would pass".