BusinessLive reports that the ANC has been urged to immediately start retrenching staff to restore the party’s financial health.

According to three independent sources, a debate took place at its national executive committee (NEC) meeting last week about how a bloated staff complement and “ghost workers” were the biggest contributors to its financial woes. The party is essentially broke, having failed to pay workers on time several times amid ballooning tax and provident fund debt. ANC staff members are engaged in a protracted stayaway due to outstanding salaries. The call to start a section 189 (retrenchment) process is said to have been made by party spokesperson Pule Mabe in the NEC. He is said to have told the meeting that there were staff members who had not done any work since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. The post-NEC statement indicated: “The NEC therefore took the following approach on urgent organisational renewal tasks for 2022: complete the organisational design project and budget and urgently address staff issues within the law and our own strategic priorities.” ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile previously told the NEC the party was looking at retrenching at least 50% of its staff but his office last week said they were not yet at a point where they could immediately start retrenchments. “That process is not finalised. We are not at a point to finalise the matter. There are proposals that are coming in and are being looked at and all those proposals will be refined before implementation,” said Mashatile’s aide Keith Khoza.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kgothatso Madisa at BusinessLive

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