TMG Digital reports that the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) government is seeking about R1.1 billion from Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to pay the salaries of thousands of izinduna (headmen).  

The province has 2‚039 headmen and late last year they marched into the KZN legislature in Pietermaritzburg‚ threatening to go on strike and disrupt preparations for the local government elections unless their salaries were increased to about R8‚000 a month and they received back pay dated from 2006.  Earlier this year President Jacob Zuma met with KZN izinduna to discuss remunerations and recognition for the work they do.  He urged the izinduna not to disrupt the elections, indicating that he had already standardised the salaries of the country’s more than 5‚000 headmen to pay each a flat annual salary of R84‚125.   He promised to pay them their salaries in full.  Now it is payback time.

• Read this report by Nce Mkhize in full at TimesLive

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