South Africa’s ruling ANC workers protest over late pay

Dozens of workers from South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) picketed party headquarters in Johannesburg on Tuesday to protest over late payment of wages.

Clad in the ANC’s green, gold and black colours, employees ranging from administrative staff to cleaners chanted “An injury to one is an injury to all” and waved placards, some of which read “Comply with the contractual agreement!”

They handed a list of demands to the party’s acting secretary general, Jessie Duarte.

“We are committed to paying staff salaries,” Duarte told the protesters. “The difficult situation faced by the staff and the ANC… will require sober and decisive action.”

The vanguard of Nelson Mandela’s long campaign to end apartheid, the ANC has been in power ever since South Africa staged its first democratic elections in April 1994.

Last week, the party admitted it was facing “cashflow challenges.”

The state broadcaster SABC has reported that the ANC owes the taxman the equivalent of around $5.8 million (4.8 million euros) and is 28 months behind in payments towards a workers’ provident fund.

Duarte attributed the party’s financial woes in part to a new funding law that requires parties to disclose their donors, and this had had hampered fund-raising.

The party said it would also carry out a staff audit in order to rein in costs, following the discovery of several ghost-employees on its payroll.

Last year a high court issued an order to seize ANC assets as part of a settlement for 102 million rand ($7.3 million) that the party owed a private company for its 2019 election campaign posters.