Johannesburg – The financially embattled ANC has vowed to dispose of some of its assets to settle its pay disputes with its staff members who have not been paid for over three months.
The party has also indicated that it would use the funds gathered after they lodged their crowdfunding campaign in the past weeks to also help alleviate the plight of the workers who have been engaged in countless protests outside Luthuli House and other provincial headquarters to demand their unpaid salaries.
The ANC made the commitment to address the unpaid issues when it addressed their striking workers outside Luthuli House on Sunday.
The workers had been involved in strike action since August 26 after the party failed to settle their salaries for July and last month.
At the time, staff representative Mvusi Mdala said all provincial and national employees of the ANC had been affected by these non-payment of salaries which prompted them to down tools.
“This is due to the hardline attitude taken by management to continually disregard concerns raised by staff members during a nationwide picket held in June this year.
Mdala was adamant that the ANC management had made numerous undertakings, both verbally and in writing, to settle the pay dispute by the end of last month but that failed.
Due to the surge in their plight, the staff members made a plea to the top leadership of the ANC to intervene and deal with the matter on an urgent basis.
The staff members also demanded that all employees who have been working for the ANC in Luthuli and the provincial headquarters for over 18 months be given permanent employment.
They also pleaded with the ANC to ensure “all contributions owed to the provident fund and UIF must also be paid immediately. The employer (ANC) must in writing commit to the demands above but also must indicate that their commitment is binding and as such an award that can be enforced through labour relations act processes”.
ANC media relations officer Dakota Legoete addressed the staff members and told them the ANC’s top leadership had agreed with their representative last Tuesday night to finally settle the dispute.
Legoete also emphasised that the party was considering selling some of their assets to help deal with the pay dispute including paying third parties.
After the meeting, the workers vowed to wait for the outcome of Monday night’s meeting.
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