Cape Town - Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Obed Bapela said they have paid almost R350 million to former councillors in gratuity after they did not return to office following the local government elections.
Bapela said when the elections happened they had set aside R350m for councillors who would not come back, but to date they have managed to pay R339m.
He said there were a few councillors who have not yet been paid due to outstanding documents.
The local government elections last November saw thousands of councillors not making it back.
This led to the constitution of councils with new councillors who had been elected.
Bapela, who was speaking in the National Council of Provinces during the budget vote on Wednesday, said attempts were made to ensure all the remaining councillors were also paid.
“At the time of our last budget vote speech we reported that we had set aside R350m as gratuity to non-returning councillors.
“To date we have paid over R339m to 4 987 councillors indicating a 97% achievement.
“All the former councillors in Mpumalanga have been paid and 26 councillors are still outstanding in Gauteng, eight in the Eastern Cape, five in the Free State, three in the North West, three in KwaZulu-Natal, two in Limpopo, two in the Northern Cape and one in the Western Cape,” said Bapela.
He said efforts were made to ensure that councillors were trained.
They were also training officials in technical and other areas.
This was to improve the level of performance of municipalities.
They will take 500 officials on training during this financial year.
Local government remained an important sphere of government because services were provided in municipalities, he said.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Political Bureau