South African talk radio spent late May and early June circling a story that cuts to the heart of municipal finance: the millions being paid to employees who sit at home on suspension while disciplinary processes drag on for years. The trigger was a warning from Gauteng's MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo, whose spokesperson Thiong Konke took to Power Breakfast to flag bills ranging from R8.4 million to R23 million per municipality on suspended staff still drawing salaries.
The coverage clustered on Power FM, which led the news cycle with repeated bulletins and a sustained on-air debate, while 702, Cape Talk and SAfm wove the story into wider reporting on failing municipalities, administrators being parachuted in, and senior officials facing arrest or corruption charges. Presenters and analysts framed the issue as wasteful expenditure with an election-year edge: money diverted from service delivery, prolonged by lawyers and internal political dynamics, and landing squarely on residents ahead of November's local government polls.
A warning that set the agenda
The story crystallised on the morning of 8 June, when Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Jacob Mamabolo, through his spokesperson Thiong Konke, used Power Breakfast to call for urgent intervention to stop public funds being drained by unresolved disciplinary processes. Power FM repeatedly carried the line that some municipalities had spent between R8.4 million and R23 million on suspended employees who continue to receive salaries while cases drag on for years.7111213 The framing was blunt: the practice was "diverting resources away from service delivery".11
Why the cases drag
On Power FM's mid-afternoon talk slot, analysts pulled apart the mechanics of why suspensions stretch out. One guest argued that prolonged processes suit the lawyers involved — "one of the involved lawyers, their benefit would be for the process to draw for a long time" — and suggested internal political dynamics often sit behind the suspensions in the first place.2 Another contributor noted that officials "pursue every legal avenue open to them" to save their jobs, leaving municipalities with little room to act once a precautionary suspension is in place.9
The MEC's spokesperson conceded the point but pushed back on the idea that municipalities are helpless. Where suspensions are entangled with criminal matters things get "muddy and murky", he said, and the answer is for municipalities to build internal capacity rather than perpetually outsource disciplinary work at high cost.10
Capacity, outsourcing and the cost of legal fees
That thread — that municipalities cannot afford to keep buying in expertise — ran through the Power FM discussion on legal fees in local government, where a presenter pointed to CFOs and senior officials being suspended in rural provinces, often, in his telling, because of frictions with mayors rather than clean-cut wrongdoing.4 The implication, repeated across bulletins, was that the bill is being paid twice: salaries to suspended staff plus legal fees to drive (or delay) the hearings.1
The SAPS sub-plot
Running alongside the municipal story, Power FM and others gave heavy airtime to the suspension of nine SAPS officers from the bid evaluation committee on the Medicaid/Medicare 24 tender. National police spokesperson Brigadier Lene Marti framed it as evidence of the service's commitment to "rooting out any form of wrongdoing".356 On talk radio the two stories blurred into a single theme: suspensions as the default response to procurement scandals, with the public footing the bill for the resulting paid leave.
702, Cape Talk and SAfm widen the lens
Where Power FM concentrated on the R8.4m–R23m figures, 702 and Cape Talk located the same problem inside specific failing municipalities. 702 reported on the administrator overseeing an embattled municipality who said it was "spending a lot of its money on paying its bloated workforce at the expense of service delivery",16 and on Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana extending a Section 139(7) intervention beyond the November local government elections.17 Eyewitness News reporting carried by both 702 and Cape Talk noted that almost 50% of senior officials in one municipality had been suspended, arrested or were facing corruption charges, with a former city manager accused of violating supply chain rules, the MFMA and the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.1922
SAfm added the human cost, reporting on a municipality where workers were sometimes not paid at all and where pension contributions deducted from staff salaries had not been handed over for more than a year, prompting the Finance Minister to issue a revised recovery plan.25 The juxtaposition — suspended officials drawing full pay while active workers go unpaid — was left to do its own work.
The election-year edge
Presenters returned again and again to the November local government elections. Cape Talk's morning team noted explicitly that "in this year of a local government election, we must talk about our local municipalities", linking suspension bills to wider claims of municipal mismanagement, dodgy roadblocks and weak financial controls.23 On 702, the ANC's own admission that non-performing mayors would be removed before the polls was paired with reports of disciplinary processes against a suspended station commander where Parliament's police portfolio committee said internal action was not enough.18 Power FM bulletins folded the IEC's youth voter registration drive into the same news block as the R23 million suspension figure, sharpening the political stakes.14
What's unresolved
The MEC's spokesperson said the department was "working on" a response, but the corpus does not yet show what that response will be — whether time-bound suspensions, cost recovery from officials found guilty, or stricter rules on outsourcing disciplinary work.1113 Nor is it clear how provinces beyond Gauteng intend to act on the same numbers. What talk radio established in this fortnight is the frame: prolonged suspensions as a quietly enormous line item, sitting awkwardly next to unpaid workers, missing pension contributions and a local government election that everyone on air agrees will be fought on service delivery.
- 702
- Cape Talk
- Power FM
- SAfm
Citations
- 1.
“As you can imagine, that money could be used, especially with municipalities. That money could be used for many things. Especially in Foulay, that money could be used for many things. Much better than they are using it. We are not saying that disciplinary hearings should not be ran in a way that is one protects the integrity of the investigation itself. should put people on precautionary suspension, but that shouldn't be for unreasonable”
- 2.
“These processes are not too long drawn because that's one of the big problems. And one of the involved lawyers, their benefit would be for the process to draw for a long time. Absolutely. And I shudder to think what could be the reason for suspensions because it could be serious issues, could be a situation where the municipality would have had to undertake this particular process. I suspect that it could have also have to do with internal political dynamics.”
- 3.
“The suspension of nine police officers who served as members of the bid evaluation committee in relation to the Medicare 24 tender process. The affected members have been placed on suspension, pending the finalization of disciplinary investigations. The SAPS remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency and ethical conduct in all its operations. As the matter is subject to ongoing processes, the SAPS will not comment further at this stage. [BLANK_AUDIO]”
- 4.
“And the topic is legal fees, local municipalities. It's difficult, man. In a local corruption, I personally have seen some CFOs or ministers, especially in the Gulf of the West. This rural province is getting suspended purely because there are few situations from either the mayor or the county. And I think it's a good thing.”
- 5.
“The suspensions form part of the police's efforts to strengthen accountability. National police spokesperson Brigadier Lene Marti says the disciplinary action demonstrates the services commitment to rooting out any form of wrongdoing within its ranks. "CPS confirms the suspension of nine police officers who serve as members of the bid evaluation committee in relation to the Medicaid 24 tender process. The affected members have been placed on suspension pending the finalization of”
- 6.
“Pending the outcome of a disciplinary proceedings and related investigations. The suspensions form part of the police's efforts to strengthen accountability. National Police spokesperson Brigadier Lene Marte says, "The disciplinary action demonstrates the service commitment to rooting out any form of wrongdoing within its ranks." "CPS confirms the suspension of nine police officers who served as members of the bid evaluation committee in relation to the Medicaid 24-10 process. The affected members have been --”
- 7.
“Magrasion in this country. Okay. So that one is coming up after 7 o'clock. Then what else are we going to be taking a look at in the show? Well, we'll speak to the spokesperson for the MEC of Corporate of Governance and Traditional Affairs and Housing that we're going to be talking about the warning that he has sent out about municipalities spending millions on employees serving suspensions. So what does that mean? This is to refer to the”
- 8.
“Souspensionz, and Drawn-Out Disciplinary Cases, The Houting MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mommabulu, has called for urgent intervention to stop public funds from being drained by unresolved disciplinary processes. The warning comes that I made growing concerns over suspension-related costs that have ranged from around 8.4 million rand to as much as 23 million rand in some million rand in some million rand.”
- 9.
“He is a very good person, and he is very good at looking at this tightening of these people's circumstances, these disciplinary processes because often what you'll be told is that yes, people stay on suspension but there's little that can be for long periods but there's little that can be done is because people are pursuing their legal rights. In other words, whatever illegal avenue is open to them, they will pursue it to their health in an effort to save their jobs. So while that being the case then, how do you fault municipalities in this case?”
- 10.
“Mank, where the suspension comes with a criminal matter and then it just becomes very muddy and murky. So there is a need really for municipalities to strengthen their own capacity. Because if they don't have that capacity and they have to outsource it all the time, it will definitely come at a cost. And I don't think it's a cost that they can afford at this particular point of time. All right. Thank you.”
- 11.
“and Traditional Affairs Jacob Mamabolo has warned municipalities over costly suspensions. The warning follows revelations that some municipalities have spent 8.4 million rand and 23 million rand on suspended employees who continue to receive salaries while disciplinary processes drag on for years. Speaking on Power Breakfast, the M.C. spokesperson Thiyong Kongke says the practice is diverting resources away from service delivery. The department is now working on the service.”
- 12.
“Gao Ting, MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo. He is warning municipalities against the costly practice of prolonged employee suspensions. The warning follows reports that some municipalities have spent between 8.4 million rand and 23 million on suspended employees who continue to receive salaries while disciplinary processes drag on. Speaking on power breakfast, MEC spokesperson, Thion Gonke said, "The practice diverts funds from service delivery." One.”
- 13.
“Kauting MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Jacob Mamabolo is warning municipalities against the costly practice of prolonged employee suspensions. The warning follows reports that some municipalities have spent between 8.4 million ran to 23 million on suspended employees who continue to receive salaries while disciplinary processes drag on. Speaking early on Palm Breakfast, the MEC spokesperson, Thiong Wonky, had this to say on the matter. the question of you know the salar is that I was drawn by people”
- 14.
“and 8.4 million and 23 million rand on suspended employees who continue to receive salaries while disciplinary processes drag on. And the Electoral Commission of South Africa is urging political parties to help drive youth voter registration ahead of the upcoming local government elections. Marki Leclaku, who is the IEC general manager for civic and democracy, education, research and knowledge management, says political parties must work to rebuild public trust.”
- 15.
“Itzde. If you've just joined us in the first hour of the show, we heard from the MMC or Trista, the MMC or the MEC, I should say, of COB, GOV, and traditional affairs. We heard from his spokesperson. They warned that how the municipalities are spending way too much money on employees that are currently on suspension. The figure of 23 million rand that has been spent by municipalities.”
- 16.
“The Administrator overseeing the embattled Deutzobo or Cloud Media's Opality says the municipality spends a lot of its money on paying its bloated workforce at the expense of service delivery. Today, the municipality received a financial recovery plan from national treasury. It's under obligation to ensure the plan is implemented since it was placed under administration last September. Tabizoko Oba reports. Kopun Radikudane was appointed by cabinets last September to oversee the”
- 17.
“Two mayors, two speakers, and three municipal managers. The municipality council was dissolved with fresh elections being held. However, that dysfunctionality continued. Last September, Kevin is appointed an administrator to oversee its day-to-day running until it got back on its feeds. Finance Minister Inok Godongwana says the system will stay in place beyond the local government elections in November. This is a constitutional intervention in terms of Section 139, Sub-Section 7 of the Constitution. is good.”
- 18.
“The ANC says this mayor has failed to address the daily challenges faced by residents. It also says that as it prepares for the upcoming local government elections, and the performing mayors will be removed. Al-Fahram-Shuan, Eyewitness News. While police say an investigation is underway against the now suspended Sweden-Derm Station commander, Parliament's police portfolio committee says a disciplinary process is not enough. SAP has confirmed an internal process is underway.”
- 19.
“Almost 50% of senior officials in this municipality have either been suspended, arrested, or facing corruption charges, which we've been reporting about over the past two years at Eyewitness News, Madeline. Let's take a listen to what she had to say. We should be concerned that the former city manager has violated not just the supply chain management policies of the city, but also a key part of the Municipality Systems Act, the MFMA and the Provisional Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. What we find highly so...”
- 20.
“The suspension offers JSC-listed bonds, saying the move signals improved governance. The suspension was formally removed after the city table did annual report for the 2024-2025 Financial Year last week. In March this year, the city's bonds were suspended after delays in releasing its financial reports following a dispute with the audit general. Concerns within raised by national treasury over the municipality's handling of its finances following a salary increase.”
- 21.
“Anal report for the 2024-25 Financial Year last week. In March, the CT's bonds were suspended after delays in releasing its financial reports following a dispute with the auditor general. Concerns were raised by national treasury over the municipality's handling of its finances, following salary increases to municipal workers that it cannot afford. The CT's Ntatisi Mudiwane says this is a step in restoring investor confidence.”
- 22.
“50% of senior officials in this municipality have either been suspended, arrested, or facing corruption charges, which we've been reporting about over the past two years at eyewitness news media. Let's take a listen to what she had to say. We should be concerned that the former city manager has violated not just the supply chain management policies of the city, but also a key path of the municipality systems act, the MFMA and the provision and combating of corrupt activities act. What we find highly suspicious.”
- 23.
“municipalities, traffic department, including a controversial roadblock that he reported on, where a private company allegedly collected traffic fines without the proper legal oversight. Those allegations expanded into broader claims of municipal mismanagement and questionable procurement practices. There was also stories about weak financial controls. And in this year of a local government election, we must talk about our local municipalities. Mickey”
- 24.
“Grenz, To The Employers Who Hire Them, Warning That Businesses Found Exploiting Undocumented Foreign Nationals Could Soon Face Tough Appenities, And Howdying MEC For Cooperative Governance In Traditional Affairs Jacob Mamabolo Wands Municipalities Against The Costly Practice Of Pro-Longued Employee Suspensions. For more information on how to make a decision, visit our website at 10am.com/tour.”
- 25.
“A short full worker sometimes not paid at all. Some will say his pension contributions for staff have not been handed over in more than a year. However, money that was taken out of the employees' salaries for those contributions simply did not go to where it needed to. The finance minister, Inoko Dongwana, has handed the municipality a revised recovery plan.”