‘Council pays ANC members only’: Allegations of political bias in EPWP payments

The Polokwane municipality in Limpopo is rocked by allegations of political polarisation and cadre deployment in the payment of workers in the Expanded Public Work Programme (EPWP).

The ANC-run council allegedly only managed to pay the salaries of workers affiliated to the party this month.

Municipality dismissed allegations

However, the municipality dismissed the allegations, saying they were malicious, unfounded and opportunistic. It said the payments had nothing to do with political affiliations.

“All workers were paid except for those whose documents needed to be fixed,” spokesperson Tshidiso Mothapo said.

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He said workers who reported for duty, worked, and submitted validated daily wage registers were in the payroll for 15- 17 February, and those who were yet to confirm, or have submitted erroneous banking details, would be paid once their banking details were received and wage registers verified.

On Monday, angry EPWP workers lined up the streets of Polokwane to air their plight, and threatened to plunge the municipality further into turmoil if their salaries are not paid by the end of the month.

DA wrote to mayor Mpe

The Democratic Alliance (DA) wrote to mayor John Mpe requesting him to urgently table a quarterly EPWP payment plan that would ensure all workers were paid in time.

DA councillor Tiny Doraine Ramathabatha-Chidi said yesterday the party had repeatedly requested the establishment of an ad-hoc committee to monitor the EPWP programme but all was in vain.

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