By Staff Reporter
REITZ – Seventy-one employees of Nketoana Local Municipality say they have yet to receive payment despite a settlement agreement signed at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
The workers said the municipality committed on 11 July 2025 to pay each of them two months’ salary after they were kept at work for four months without pay. According to the workers, the municipality requested six weeks to process the payments, setting a deadline of 22 August 2025.
“Today, more than a month later, not a single payment has been made. This is despite the fact that all of us hold valid appointment letters and permanent contracts confirming our employment status,” the workers said in a statement.
The employees accused Municipal Manager Mokete Nhlapho and Chief Financial Officer Jabulane Makubu of delaying the process.
“Instead of honouring the agreement, certain officials have chosen to frustrate the process by claiming the matter is still in court. This is misleading and dishonest, as the municipality voluntarily signed the CCMA settlement, which is binding and enforceable in law,” the statement read.
The workers said the ongoing non-payment has left families without food, rent, or school fees.
“For four months, 71 families have been left without income, struggling to survive while still reporting for duty. The municipality’s actions have not only violated labour law but also stripped workers of their dignity,” the statement said.
The workers, who are members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), are now seeking enforcement of the CCMA award.
“If the municipality refuses to comply, we will pursue all legal avenues available, including writs of execution against municipal assets,” they said.
They have called on the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and National Treasury to intervene.
“We are not asking for favours. We are demanding what is legally and rightfully ours: the salaries we have earned through our labour. The municipality must stop playing politics with the lives of workers and their families,” the workers said.
