Ward committee members gripe over stipend

Ward committee members from around Nelson Mandela Bay gathered in front of the council chambers, in Military Road on Wednesday morning demanding back pay from August 2016 to July 2017.

They also demanded that their monthly R1 000 stipends be increased to between R10 000 and R20 000 per month.

Mandlakazi Bandlela from Ward 22 complained about not being given the tools of the trade and doing the work of councillors when they are not in their offices yet, he said, they did not even received their stipends on the same date every month.

"Constituency director Dumisani Mbebe said the reason we're given only R10 000 is because we only work 30 minutes  a day ... yet when councillors are at council meetings ,we fill those shoes," Bandlela said.

Ward 38 committee member Lungile Sokani said they were meant to have been paid following the August 3 2016 municipal elections, but payment only started the following August.

"We want the municipality to pay us from August 2016 as we only started getting our salaries in 2017. We have our five-year contracts, so we want what is owed to us," Sokani said.

The crowd was addressed by ANC councillor Andile Lungisa who assured them their grievances would be addressed.

The ward committee members continued singing struggle songs, calling for Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor Athol Trollip to come and address them.