Unpaid Salaries Overshadow ANC National General Council as Workers Picket Outside Venue

The ANC’s 5th National General Council was meant to be a weekend of strategy, speeches and unity. Instead, it began with placards, frustration and workers chanting outside Birchwood Hotel, a reminder that even South Africa’s governing party is battling its own internal cracks.

Just a day before the event, Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula assured the media that the salary issue had been resolved. But by Monday morning, reality painted a different picture. A small group of ANC employees unpaid for November, gathered at the venue gates demanding what most South Africans would consider basic dignity: salaries, medical aid, pension contributions.

For some workers, this wasn’t just one month’s drama. Reports suggest it’s the fourth time this year salaries have been delayed, a pattern that many say is wearing workers down.

“We are here, working, unpaid.”

Among the demonstrators was Nombuso Mthembu, standing with a sign in hand, but also with a story familiar to many South Africans living paycheck-to-paycheck. She said staff were inside working at NGC despite not being paid fulfilling their duties while worrying about bills, doctors’ visits and unpaid pensions hovering over their heads.

“The salaries are not the only issue,” she said. “Some of us have outstanding pension fund payments and medical aid. We have members here with chronic illnesses whose medical aid has been suspended.”

For anyone who’s ever tried to get medication without active cover, her words hit hard. December is around the corner, for many a time of joy and bonuses, for others a reminder that arrears don’t take holidays.

Youth League, NEHAWU Stand in Solidarity

Their voices didn’t echo alone. Members of the ANC Youth League and NEHAWU joined the workers in support, calling for accountability, not just sympathy.

Youth League leader Collen Malatji didn’t mince his words:

“We cannot be eating while ANC workers and their children go hungry.”

On social media, his comments sparked debate. Some applauded the stance as overdue solidarity within the movement. Others questioned how the ruling party, responsible for labour laws and worker rights nationwide could repeatedly fail its own employees.

Union representatives echoed frustration. NEHAWU’s Dan Semenya reminded the public that this is not a new crisis similar protests happened during the 2022 policy conference over the same issue. Three years later, the cycle repeats.

Mbalula Responds, But Workers Remain Skeptical

Mbalula insists progress is being made. He said junior staff have been paid, and that the only group awaiting payment is top management, including himself.

He told reporters that fundraising efforts are underway to settle outstanding amounts, saying the situation is under control.

But for affected workers, repeated promises offer little comfort when medical aid subscriptions stop and pension contributions fall behind. Cash-flow issues inside the ANC have long made headlines, often tied to declining membership revenue and fundraising challenges.

Why this moment matters beyond the picket line

This protest lands at a symbolic time. The NGC is supposed to map the ANC’s future, but instead opens under a reminder of internal financial strain and organisational trust issues. For many ordinary workers, this isn’t political it’s survival.

South Africans online are asking tough questions:
How does the governing party preach about worker rights while struggling to protect its own staff?
What does it mean for stability heading into future elections?

For now, no one has those answers. But outside Birchwood Hotel, handwritten posters said everything the speeches inside couldn’t:

Pay us. Respect us. See us.

Until then, the NGC continues, but under the shadow of its workers standing outside in the sun.

{Source: IOL}

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