Durban – The KwaZulu-Natal government says it has finally secured the money to start paying Izinduna (headmen), from various traditional councils, their backpay.
KZN Nomusa Dube-Ncube, announced on Tuesday evening that the money came from the national government.
That was after a meeting with traditional leaders to map out how the money would be paid to beneficiaries.
She did not say how much was secured and how many of the Izinduna would receive the backpay and from which period to which period.
Last month, “The Mercury” reported that the number of Izinduna that should be compensated was about 2 000.
In March last year, the same newspaper reported that the backpay owed to Izinduna across the province was reduced drastically, by more than half, from R1.5 billion to R630 million.
It reported on what transpired in a meeting of the standing committee on public accounts in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, where the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) revealed that following a thorough assessment, it found that the backpay had been overestimated.
NEWS: KZN Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, says the province has finally received money from the national government to back pay Izinduna (headmen) from various traditional councils. She said KZN COGTA is currently working on ensuring that the right people receive the money. @IOL pic.twitter.com/5g6DvrgV89
The department said the figure was overestimated based on the assumption that all the vacancies of Izinduna were filled and that all had worked the same number of months.
Regarding the backpay, Dube-Ncube said that the ball was now in the court of the KZN Cogta, which has to ensure that the right people get their money.
“We are pleased that we have resolved the (issue) over the backpay that is due to Izinduna in recognition of their work within traditional councils as public office bearers.
“These funds have been long awaited and, in some instances, led to litigation which was not warranted because resolving the backpay matter has always been a priority for the provincial government.
“We are therefore pleased that the matter has now been resolved.
“Cogta will ensure that there are proper internal controls before the funds are disbursed to qualifying Izinduna,” the premier said.
Dube-Ncube said that the government has always made restoring the dignity of traditional leadership institutions a priority.
It also wanted to adequately resource them as a way of affirming the role of traditional leadership institutions as a critical pillar of our systems of governance.
“KwaZulu-Natal Treasury and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs together with the Office of the Premier have been seized with this matter and had several engagements with national government to make these funds available in order to meet this obligation,” she added.