One salary payment leaves Impendle’s bigger crisis unresolved
IMPENDLE — A dispute over unpaid salaries at Impendle Local Municipality has raised a question that KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial intervention has yet to settle publicly: which months have workers been paid for, and how much is still owed?
KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi welcomed the payment of August salaries after giving the municipality 48 hours to act earlier this month. The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (SAMWU) disputed any suggestion that this resolved the full debt, saying workers were still owed other salaries and payments deducted for third parties. In reporting published on 13 September, the union said workers had received only a portion of what they were owed.
In a statement dated 11 September and supplied to TownPress, SAMWU accused Buthelezi of presenting the salary payment as a broader resolution. It also alleged that the provincial department had failed to respond to workers’ demands and called for the reinstatement of contract workers it says were unfairly dismissed. The union said it would continue its strike. TownPress has not independently verified the outstanding amounts, the circumstances of the contract terminations or the strike’s status as of Friday.
The department’s intervention is real and predates the latest confrontation. The provincial executive invoked section 139(1)(b) of the Constitution in May, and COGTA appointed Sthembiso Mthembu as its representative to help implement a recovery plan at Impendle. SAMWU’s claim that the intervention has failed is its assessment; the appointment and the department’s announcement of the August payment are part of COGTA’s account.
Impendle’s difficulties also extend beyond a single pay cycle. After an oversight visit in July, a parliamentary committee reported that workers had not been paid for April, May and June. It warned that the municipality needed an urgent financial recovery plan and highlighted a salary bill that exceeded its projected equitable share allocation for 2024/25. National Treasury also listed Impendle among municipalities whose July 2026 equitable share transfers were temporarily withheld over financial management concerns.
COGTA has publicly said August salaries were paid. SAMWU says the wider obligations remain unresolved. A month by month account of salary payments, together with the status of pension, medical aid and other third party contributions, would establish whether the intervention is meeting its most immediate obligation to workers.
Anyone with additional information can contact the press desk at press@townpress.co.za or drop a tip on our annonymous platform https://tips.townpress.co.za/