Musina councillors finally meet to sort out pay mess

After trying to avoid dealing with the issue for almost two months, the Musina Municipality’s council eventually convened on Friday, 30 August, for a meeting to discuss the overpayment of senior officials.

Since July this year, council meetings had been boycotted by a section of the ANC councillors. This group was described as the “Nathi camp,” a reference to the municipal manager, Mr Nathi Tshiwanammbi. He is one of the senior officials who were appointed on pay scales much higher than what regulations prescribe.

The issue of officials’ being paid more than they are due was raised on several occasions by the national and provincial treasury departments. The Limpopo MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Basikopo Makamu, also instructed the municipality to address the issue.

A faction of the councillors opted to deal with the issue in a cowardly manner - by boycotting meetings and preventing a quorum. This practice caused the MEC to issue a stern warning, telling them they would be removed as councillors.

But on Friday, 30 August, the full complement of 24 councillors attended the meeting. One of the burning issues on the agenda was the inflated remuneration of senior officials.

The issue must now be dealt with by the Municipal Public Accounts Committee. This committee’s members will have to sit and deliberate on the issue. They are required to report back to the council in two weeks and make recommendations on how the issue should be handled. They will also need to recommend how and when any overpaid money will be repaid, if necessary.

Community organisations in Musina that have launched protest actions to force the municipality to deal with the issue were not overly impressed with the latest developments.

Ms Geraldine Norton, one of the residents who have been vocal in demanding action, said they still felt the municipal manager should be suspended. “These people deliberately increased their salaries, knowing full well it was wrong,” she said. She also criticised the councillors who had boycotted the meetings. “Now that they’ve sat and admitted they were wrong, they should do the noble thing and dissolve the council,” she said.

Date:05 September 2024

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019. He currently writes on a freelance basis, covering human rights issues, court news and entertainment.

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