Salaries Stalled Again: ANC Workers Left Waiting as Party Battles Cash Flow Crisis

South Africans are used to political drama, but when the country’s largest liberation movement can’t pay its own workers, people start talking. And this week, they are talking loudly.

For the third time this year, staff working at the ANC’s headquarters, Luthuli House, have not received their salaries on time. The delay comes barely a week before the party’s National General Council, a high-stakes gathering expected to shape internal power balances and election strategy. Instead of preparing, employees are checking bank notifications that stubbornly show zero salary activity.

The timing could not be worse. Under treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa, many believed the party had turned the page on its messy financial past. Yet here we are another month, another late salary.

“It’s Not Your Fault,” Management Says, But That Doesn’t Pay Rent

In a letter dated 29 November, Luthuli House general manager Patrick Flusk told workers that November salaries would be delayed. The tone was apologetic, acknowledging that staff were not to blame and assuring payment would come eventually.

But assurances don’t put food on the table.

By the evening of 2 December, workers told Sunday World that salaries still hadn’t landed. For many, this is starting to feel less like a “delay” and more like a pattern, one with real-life consequences.

Social media reaction captured public sentiment with typical South African bluntness:

“The struggle didn’t end in ’94, it just moved to Luthuli House payroll.”
“How does a billion-rand-funded party not afford salaries?”
“Maybe ‘Amandla’ needs an invoice number now.”

It’s bitter humour, but behind the jokes are people losing cars, homes and dignity, as banks refuse to wait any longer.

Not the First Time, Not Even the Second

This isn’t a once-off embarrassment. In February, salaries were delayed, politicians included. Even Fikile Mbalula reportedly waited for payment like everyone else.

Then in October, things worsened. Business Day revealed the ANC couldn’t pay salaries after a court order allowed the attachment of the party’s bank accounts due to a debt of over R85 million. The creditor? Ezulweni Investments, a KwaZulu-Natal printing and marketing company that produced campaign material for the party in 2025 and wasn’t paid.

The irony is hard to ignore.

A party once synonymous with power now can’t keep up with payroll.

To understand the scale, the ANC’s salary bill for around 1,600 staff reportedly reaches R18 million per month.

Why Is the ANC Broke? Blame the Funding Act, Says MP

Inside the party, some believe the problem isn’t mismanagement, but legislation.

Joe Maswanganyi, ANC MP and chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance, argues that the Political Party Funding Act has scared away donors. The law, implemented in 2021, forces parties to publicly disclose donations above a set threshold originally R100,000, now R200,000.

The idea was transparency. The result, the ANC says, is wealthy funders deciding silence is better than scrutiny.

“Donors don’t want their companies associated with politics, especially ANC politics right now,” one analyst wrote on X.

Still, not everyone is convinced secrecy should return. Many civil society voices argue that this law exists precisely because past funding flowed in the dark, often with consequences we are paying for today.

But Here’s the Twist, They Received More Than Anyone Else

Despite complaints about funding, the ANC remains the biggest beneficiary of public political financing, receiving R1.19 billion in 2023/24, more than half of all funds distributed.

So, if the party still cannot pay staff, South Africans are asking: Where is the money going?

Is it shrinking membership revenue? Election expenses? Administrative rot? A culture of not paying debts? Or something deeper, a political giant trying to maintain power with finances that no longer match its size?

Whatever the answer, one thing is clear: people at Luthuli House are carrying the consequences, not the politicians on podiums.

All Eyes on the NGC

With the National General Council around the corner, the ANC faces two battles:

1. Internal trust – how do you rally support when workers aren’t paid?

2. Public confidence – how do you convince voters you can run a country when you’re struggling to run payroll?

It’s a harsh narrative and right now, it writes itself.

Newsday has reached out to the ANC for comment and will update once received.

{Source: News Day}

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