DURBAN - VACANT posts for izinduna have been frozen because of the financial constraints in the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta). The move has sparked an outcry from a formation that represents the interests of izinduna, who have accused the government of attempting to destroy traditional leadership.
The department and izinduna are already at loggerheads, with the latter threatening to take the department to court over its failure to pay them their backpay of more than R1 billion.
“We have received letters from the department saying the new izinduna will not get paid because the government has no money. We see this as a way of destroying traditional leadership,” said Phakamani Dlamini of Ubumbano Lwezinduna.
In a letter seen by The Mercury and addressed to the provincial house of traditional leaders, the department said it had spent hundreds of millions of rand in the fight against Covid-19.
The department said out of a total of R408 million spent on the fight against Covid-19, R52m came from Cogta, adding that this had affected its plans for the 2020-21 financial year.
The letter said for the 2020/21 financial year, vacant posts for izinduna would not be filled unless they were critical; catering for meetings was banned, and the budget for staying in hotels and transport allowances had been exhausted.
The department also said the new izinduna, even those who had started work but had not been officially recognised, would not be paid. It said those already in the system would not be affected, and that this position could be reviewed later.
Dlamini said it was disingenuous of the department to blame Covid-19 for its decisions. “There are izinduna that have been waiting for five years and have never been paid because the government said there were disputes with their appointments.” He added that izinduna were still waiting for clarity on when they would receive their backpay.
The department, said Dlamini, owed izinduna close to R1.4bn in backpay and they were now contemplating legal action to recover the money.
KwaZulu-Natal has close to 3 000 izinduna. Cogta recently said it intended to extricate itself from this financial burden as it had never been advised to pay the salaries of izinduna or given the money to perform this function.
The provincial department has battled to pay izinduna salaries, and a few years ago it announced that it was redirecting funds from various departments to meet the ballooning wage bill.
“The last time there were discussions on this matter was in March this year; we were told that a delegation will visit the national minister of Cogta to address the matter – we have not heard anything since. We believe that the only recourse that remains for us is to take them to court,” Dlamini said.
Cogta spokesperson Senzo Mzila declined to comment on the issue, saying correspondence between the department and the institution of traditional leadership was confidential.
Mzila said the provincial department had engaged the national Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, as well as Finance Minister Tito Mboweni last month on the issue of izinduna backpay.
The National Treasury said: “There will be a technical task team on payment of izinduna or headmen/women with representatives from KZN Cogta, KZN Treasury, National Treasury and the Department of Traditional Affairs to find solutions to this matter.”
Attempts to reach the national Cogta department were unsuccessful.
THE MERCURY