SAMWU AND COSATU IN THE NORTH WEST PROVINCE ARE DEJECTED BY THE NON-PAYMENT OF SALARIES OF MUNICIPAL WORKERS IN DITSOBOTLA AND OTHER MUNICIPALITIES.
SAMWU AND COSATU IN THE NORTH WEST PROVINCE ARE DEJECTED BY THE NON-PAYMENT OF SALARIES OF MUNICIPAL WORKERS IN DITSOBOTLA AND OTHER MUNICIPALITIES.
Wednesday, 06 August 2025
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union and its Federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions in the North-West province feel dejected by the non-payment of salaries of municipal workers in the Ditsobotla municipality and other municipalities in the province.
Municipalities, including the Ditsobotla local municipality, are the closest sphere of government to residents and carry a constitutional obligation to render services to residents, irrespective of the economic status of the residents whom they serve.
However, the Ditsobotla local municipality is currently unable to effectively perform its constitutional obligations as those responsible for rendering the services to the communities and businesses under the authority of the Ditsobotla municipality are in the third month without salaries.
Creditors on the other hand, indifferent to the challenges confronting municipal workers from the Ditsobotla municipality are moving in to repossess cars of workers who fail to honour their payment obligations irrespective of the reality that these workers have not received their salaries for the last two months and have entered the third month.
COSATU and SAMWU have met with the Mayor, Cllr Molefe Morutse who confirmed that the municipality has complied with Treasury requirements to receive their portion of equitable share. Treasury paid them the first batch last week Friday, 1 August 2025 which went towards paying third parties. The municipality is promised the second batch this coming Friday, 8 August 2025. The Mayor has committed that this second batch will go towards paying outstanding salaries of workers.
We call upon the Member of the Executive Council for Cooperative Governance and Tradition Affairs, Ntate Gaoage Molapisi and the Premier, Hon Lazarus Mokgosi to move swiftly to ensure that indeed, municipal workers at the Ditsobotla local municipality receive their salaries, the latest on Friday, 8 August 2025.
We wish to remind the Member of the Executive Council for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs that, as COSATU and SAMWU, relationship with government is based on us advancing the interests of the working class. This means that we will support government when it does right by workers and the working class in general and confrontational when it advances tendencies that are against the interests of workers and their class.
We will not tolerate political expediency at the expense of workers and the families. Let the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Premier as the overall in-charge, do right by workers of Ditsobotla local municipality by ensuring that they receive their salaries on Friday, 8 August 2025.
We still have confidence in the ANC-led provincial government that it would intervene in preserving the dignity and interests of workers and their families.
For more information, please contact the SAMWU Provincial Secretary, Cde Vincent Diphoko on 083 580 8815 or the COSATU North-West Provincial Secretary, Cde Kabelo Kgoro on 067 410 4696.