The EFF has offered to help ANC employees following the ruling party’s repeated delays in paying their salaries.
An internal letter leaked on social media on Thursday revealed that the ANC will pay its staff late for the month of September.
‘Paid after month-end’
In the letter dated 29 September, 2020, ANC general manager Fébé Potgieter told staff that salaries for September “will be paid after month-end.”
“Salary payments will be made by not later than 9 October, 2020. We urgently request staff to make the necessary arrangements with the banks, and we most sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused,” she wrote.
This follows similar delays in December 2019, June 2020 and again in August 2020. The ANC has consistently declined to comment on the delays, maintaining that it is an internal matter.
‘Abuse and exploitation’
In a statement on Thursday, however, the EFF condemned what it termed the ANC’s “consistent abuse and exploitation” of its employees.
It said, “As the EFF, we are duty-bound to call out the exploitation of workers, even if it is within the confines of other political parties.
“These employees are bound by contracts [and] have dependants and bills to service. The actions of the ANC place the dignity and financial integrity of its employees at risk.”
According to the EFF, an organisation that cannot run its own internal financial affairs “cannot possibly lead the economic development of the state.”
‘Approach EFF Labour Desk’
It added, “The EFF encourages all employees of the ruling party to approach the EFF Labour Desk to seek recourse for what is a perpetual state of financial insecurity.
“The EFF will defend these employees without fail from the exploitation they are faced with in a ruling party that simply cannot sustain itself or those in its employ.”
EFF leader Julius Malema also took aim at President Cyril Ramaphosa on Twitter over the salary delay, calling him an “imaginary billionaire.”