The ongoing issue of more than a billion rand in back pay for KwaZulu-Natal Izinduna was again raised by the Democratic Alliance (DA) during a Scopa hearing held earlier this week with the province’s Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Department.
The situation is a result of an unfunded mandate issued by the then President Jacob Zuma – one that is creating huge and ongoing fiscal implications for our province.
Three years on and this matter still remains unresolved. This while CoGTA, during the meeting, informed Scopa that despite MEC Sipho Hlomuka having continually engaged his national counterpart on the responsibility of this debt, there is no resolve to date, leaving KZN with the vast sum of R1.39 billion on its books.
KZN is currently under enormous financial pressure with cuts to fund Covid-19 expenditure. It is in no position to fund the back pay. All provincial departments, in particular CoGTA have already had to take major budget cuts in order to fund the Izinduna payment, with no assistance form National Treasury.
The negative impacts of Zuma’s legacy, over and above his constitutional delinquency when it comes to ignoring Constitutional Court rulings and the Zondo Commission, seems to have no end.
The DA calls on Premier Sihle Zikalala to dispute this unfunded mandate and to pass the problem to where it belongs – the office of the President. This is where it started under Zuma and this is where it should end. The ANC created this mess – they must sort it out.