WATCH | ‘The leadership does not care about us’: unpaid ANC staff face a bleak Christmas

ANC veteran staffer Thabo Motepe is the lone figure walking through the empty halls of the party’s headquarters, Luthuli House, in downtown Johannesburg. 

Taking a seat in his bare office, Motepe speaks about the bleak Christmas he and his family face while the sounds of bustling city life below drift through an open window.

Motepe is one of hundreds of ANC staff members who have allegedly faced late payments since as early as May this year. 

“We’ve been having challenges with late payments, suspensions of medical aids and around that time we discovered the ANC has not been paying our provident fund ,” he says. 

Motepe has served the ANC in different capacities since the early 1990s and says he loves the party and wants to continue working for it, but is struggling to afford basic living costs. 

“We believe we have a role to play. We love the ANC. We want to come to work but we don’t have the means because we are not earning a salary. I borrowed money to honour your appointment.”

He is hopeful salaries will be paid by Thursday this week. 

TimesLIVE